


Our Shattered Past

by Elenduen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Getting Together, M/M, Mpreg, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Omega Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pregnant Tony Stark, Team Iron Man, not wanda maximoff friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:28:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 97,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23759872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenduen/pseuds/Elenduen
Summary: Bucky survives the snap, survives to see two-thirds of the universe die, half turning to ash, the others killed because those others turned to ash. He follows Steve back to America and the Avengers compound struggling to try and make sense of everything that has happened. Then Tony Stark returns to earth, broken, sick, desolate. Bucky feels he owes Tony for what he did to his parents, he wants to find a way to make amends and the only way he think to do that is to act as protection for Tony while he slowly recovers from his time in space.Tony couldn't care less what happens to him now. He failed, Peter is gone, two-thirds of the Universe is gone, why should he care if he lives or dies now? he is determined to help others while he can though and if that means Barnes is following him around then he can help too.What neither expect is a relationship to blossom between them or the family that blooms out of the ashes of their shattered pasts.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 1454
Kudos: 1430
Collections: Waiting for updates, Winteriron all the time





	1. Chapter 1

New York 2020

“Okay, okay, just keep breathing doll, remember deep breaths, in and out, in and out.” James said, trying to act calm even though he felt like he was coming out of his skin and couldn’t stop shaking. He opened the car door and took hold of Tony, helping him out of the car and supported his weight while leaning down to grab the hospital bag and used his foot to kick the door shut. 

“Oh God this hurts!” Tony cried bending forward and crying out in pain. He braced his hands on his thighs, almost bent double as he panted, James’s warm hand rubbed at his back trying to sooth the muscles and ease the pain until it passed. “I don’t like this.” Tony moaned, not caring if he sounded childish, hell he didn’t care what he sounded or looked like right now, he was in a hell of a lot of pain, he was scared shitless, and his bond mate looked to be on the verge of nervous breakdown or a manic episode, appearances were really the last thing on Tony Stark-Barnes’ mind. 

“Its okay doll, we’ll get you inside and they’ll give you something for the pain.” James said putting his metal arm about Tony’s broad waist to support him as they began to make their way across the car park and into the hospital. 

They had just reached the main reception when Tony cried out again, holding onto the side of the desk as he moaned panted. 

“Can I help you?” The receptionist asked. 

“Tony and James Stark-Barnes, we phoned ahead.” James said, his attention mostly on Tony, “He’s in labour, contractions are coming every five minutes…,” He broke off as a sudden flood of water splashed down onto Tony’s feet. 

“Oh God!” Tony whimpered flushing in embarrassment, he looked at the receptionist mortified, “I’m so sor..,”

“It’s fine,” She said, “You’re not the first expectant mother whose water’s have broken here, it’s a regular occurrence.” 

“See honey, nothing to worry about.” James soothed as the receptionist handed him a form to sign, his hands were shaking so much that it was a struggle for him to hold the pen and put his signature down, but he managed to get it looking close enough to his name, by which time a nurse had a arrived with a wheelchair and eased Tony down into it to take him to obstetrics. 

Once Tony was in his room he was helped out of his clothes and into a hospital gown and helped onto the bed where he was given an examination to see how far along he was into delivery and to check the Pup’s heartbeat and position. 

James was given a mask and gown to wear as he stood besides the bed, holding Tony’s hand which was mercilessly squeezed as another contraction hit. 

“Looks like this little one is in a hurry.” The OBGYN said with a smile, “Seven centimetres dilated, you’ve not long to go now, Mr Stark-Barnes.”

“Can you give him something for the pain?” James asked hating seeing Tony hurting so much. 

“Would you like something?” The OBGYN asked Tony who nodded, puffing and panting as he’d been shown in Lamaze. “I can give you a shot of pethidine, that’ll take the edge off.” The Doctor said, “You can have gas and air as well.”

“I’ll try the shot.” Tony said breathing deeper as the pain eased off. He bite his lip as he was given the shot then lay back against the pillows, trying his best to get comfortable while waiting for the next contraction. 

“Can I get you anything?” James asked feeling horribly useless, he wanted to do something other than just hold Tony’s hand and rub his back, he wanted to help him practically but there was nothing he could do, this was one thing that he couldn’t help Tony with other than being supportive. 

“Some ice.” Tony said, rubbing his bump. 

“I’ll be right back.” 

James hurried down the corridor to the ice dispenser, sharing frantic and terrified smiles with a couple of male beta’s and Alphas whose partners were also in labour. He filled a cup with ice and was on his way back to Tony when his phone beeped. Pausing he took the phone from his pocket and looked at the text which was from Steve. 

“Bucky, I’m at the hospital, where R U?” 

James scowled at the text, no matter how many times he said he didn’t want to be called Bucky, Steve still called him it. He swiftly made a reply telling Steve that he and Tony were in obstetrics, then pocketed his phone and made his way back to Tony’s room, where the Omega was going through another contraction. 

“Sorry, sorry.” James apologised, hurrying to Tony’s side and rubbed his back as Tony moaned and panted until it had passed. Once it had he eased Tony back against the pillows and handed him the ice to suck, “Steve’s arrived.” He said. 

“I don’t want him in here.” Tony said, “Nor Natasha, Rhodey, no one. Just you and the Doctors.” 

James nodded, “I know, it’s fine, no one is getting through those doors but medical professionals.” 

Tony attempted to smile but another contraction was coming and all he could do was moan. 

“Okay Honey, okay, breathe, keep breathing, you can do this, you are a strong, you can do anything.” 

“I can’t do this.” Tony cried clutching at the sheets, “I can’t, Oh God it hurts so much!” 

“Sir, please, you can’t go in there.”

“They’re my friends of course I can.” 

James groaned as he heard Steve’s unmistakable self-righteous voice from outside the hospital room, a nurse or someone trying to stop him from coming in. 

“No” Tony moaned, as Steve pushed his way past whoever was trying to stop him getting in and barged into the delivery room. 

“Steve.” James groaned. 

“Get him out.” Tony panted, “Please get him out.” This was met with Steve’s patented disappointed stare. 

“Tony, Bucky is my friend, he’s practically my brother…”

“And he’s my fucking mate!” Tony roared throwing the ice at Steve and James had to applaud his aim since several of the cubes did in fact hit Steve even as he tried to dodge them, “I don’t want you in here when my junk is dilating and my Pup is coming out of my body!”

“Sir, please I have to ask you leave!” The nurse demanded of Steve, 

“Its fine,” He said to her, “Tony, just calm down.”

“Steve, outside.” James said rising from the plastic chair he was sat in, “One minute.” He said to Tony patting his hand, he crossed the room in three strides, took Steve by his elbow and led him outside, shutting the door behind him, ignoring the tutting nurse who was going to find a dustpan to clean up the ice cubes. 

“Buck, I want to be here for you, this is your first Pup!” Steve enthused, “I want to be the first to hold your Son, your Alpha Son!” 

“We don’t know the gender Steve.” James said, “And the first person to hold him or her is going to be Tony, then me.” James paused and took a breath, he ran his flesh hand over his face trying to get himself together, “I appreciate that you are excited Steve, I am too, unbelievably so, but you need to back off and give us some space right now. Tony’s feeling very vulnerable, he’s in a lot of pain and he frightened and he needs some privacy.” 

The mulish look Steve got was very familiar and James braced himself for an argument, but at that moment Natasha and Rhodey came running down the corridor. 

“Has he had it yet, is my Niece or nephew here?” Rhodey asked. 

“Not yet.” James said, wincing as he name was shrieked with the force of an opera singer who was looking to become a banshee, “I’ve gotta go.” He said pushing past them and disappeared in the delivery room, leaving Rhodey and Natasha looking expectantly at Steve. 

“Tony doesn’t want anyone in there.” He said. 

Natasha nodded and Rhodey shrugged, “Figures, I wouldn’t want anyone seeing me like that either.” Rhodey did however go and knock on the door and call through to Tony offering him all his best. 

“Shall we go and fine the cafeteria?” He suggested to Natasha.

“Sounds like a plan.” She agreed, taking his arm, Steve paused outside the door, he could hear Bucky encouraging Tony to breathe and hear Tony’s cries of pain, he raised his hand to knock on the door but lowered it again and reluctantly turned and followed after Natasha and Rhodey. 

******

James’s heart was in his mouth as he supported Tony’s weight, helping to hold him up as Tony pushed down, squeezing his hands so tight his knuckles were white and even James’ metal hand was groaning under the strain. 

“That’s it Doll, you’re nearly there.” He encouraged, trying not to watch because of the frankly alarming amount of blood coming from Tony’s body but also not able to look away as an impossibly small body emerged from his mate. 

With reddened skin, a screwed up and wrinkled face, covered in blood and vernix caseosa, the baby should have looked disgusting, but to James it was the most beautiful sight he’d ever beheld in his life. He hardly even felt Tony’s weight as he sagged back against him breathing heavily as he reached out for their new baby Pup. 

“A fine Alpha Girl.” The OBGYN said, cutting the cord and wrapping her in a towel, he carefully handed her to Tony who had gone speechless, all he could do was gaze down at her and hiccup with tears that James was already sobbing. 

Carefully, James reached out and slipped his flesh index finger into her palm, his eyes widening as she curled her fist around it reflexively. She was only a little bigger than a doll, her body was so tiny she didn’t seem real, and yet she was real. 

“Thank you.” James whispered kissing Tony’s neck, the Omega chocked out something unintelligible, still too over awed to form words and too lost in their new daughter to really care. 

Parting with their daughter, even just for a few moments so that she could be checked over and cleaned up was physically painful for both new parents, but Tony also had to deliver the placenta and get cleaned up himself, which, once done, he was able to have their Daughter back in his arms, after James had his very first hold of her. 

“She’s so small I keep thinking I’ll break her!” James whispered as he carefully passed her to Tony. 

“She’s perfect,” Tony said the first words he’d managed since her birth, his voice was hoarse from the screaming he’d been doing and it cracked as he spoke. “Are we still set on the name we picked?” He asked, looking up at James. 

“I am if you are.” 

Tony nodded and looked back down at their daughter, “Morgan Holly, welcome to our family.”

James took out his phone and turned the camera on, “Do you mind?” he asked, 

“No go ahead.” Tony said managing a tired but happy smile, “Send it to the others so they’ll know.” He looked down at the now sleeping Morgan, “Your first picture, little miss, the first of many I’m sure.”

James texted the picture to Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey with the caption, “Meet Morgan Holly Stark-Barnes.” Within minutes all three had run from the cafeteria and piled into the room panting. 

“Oh Tones, she is beautiful.” Rhodey said approaching the bed slowly, he didn’t go right up to them, knowing it was better for him, as an unbonded Alpha to keep some distance at first or James’s protective Alpha instincts would kick in and have him lashing out to protect his mate and new born, after a few days the pheromones would ease and they’d be able to go to Tony properly but for now they had to keep back, although Steve got a bit too close and was growled at by both Tony and James. 

“One metre away.” Natasha said pulled Steve back. “You couldn’t have gone with Natasha?” she sighed. 

“Sorry, maybe next time.” James said with a chuckle.

“Next time?” Tony repeated, “You’ll be lucky.” However, as he looked down at Morgan, he knew he’d go through all that pain again and worse to hold another perfect precious pup in his arms. He only half listened as Steve congratulated James on his daughter, praising him for having an Alpha Pup, smiled as Rhodey and Natasha took photos, but his focus was on Morgan and the pang of regret and longing as he wished he could have shared this with Peter. 

******

Eighteen Months earlier. 

Avengers Compound. 

James (Bucky) Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier, followed Steve out of the compound and onto the grounds as a space ship was lowered down from the sky by a woman in some kind of suit who was glowing like a star. 

She set it down with ease and the door to the ship opened revealing a blue female humanoid that the talking Raccoon Rocket recognized, and a frighteningly thin and pale Tony Stark. 

“I lost him, I lost the kid.” Tony said as Colonel Rhodes went with Pepper Potts to help him from the ship, and into the compound where he was put on an IV drip by Doctor Banner and given a bowl of weak soup to eat. 

James thought he should have something more substantial, Tony looked like a puff of wind could knock him over, but he knew that after a long starvation anything heavy would be brought back up as the stomach couldn’t handle it, so he stayed silent, watching and hiding himself as the Avengers, what was left of them spoke. 

Steve was aggressive, had been since their defeat, he’d been deeply thankful James had survived even if James himself was not. But was devastated at losing Vision, Sam and Wanda. Although as far as James was concerned the Hydra witch was no loss. 

He'd read a lot on the Avengers, on everything as he’d been recovering in Wakanda, learned all about how the team came to be, about how Ultron had come into being, how Wanda had mind raped the team, why Steve would want someone like that around them he had no idea. He learned about Tony Stark too, the fiery Omega who’d fought him in Vienna and Siberia, nearly bested him too! 

That impressed both himself and the remnants of the Winter Soldier. They appreciated a strong willed Omega, and it was heart breaking to see that same Omega in such a state right now that he couldn’t even shout at Steve without collapsing on the ground. 

Tony was placed in medical, Pepper Potts at his bedside keeping an eye on him as the others suited up to go and fight Thanos, seeming to think that they could fix everything. 

James didn’t think they would, didn’t think anything could fix this, half the universe had been snapped out of existence, but many more lives had been lost as a result of that, with pilots, drivers, captains, Doctors, and nurses turning to ash while in the middle of doing their jobs, causing millions of deaths from cars, plane crashes, ships running a ground, patients left untreated and bleeding out. Those lives could not be brought back, even if they got the gauntlet and reversed the snap not all of this could be undone. 

That was partly why James chose to stay behind, to guard the door to Tony’s room, a silent presence as the others went off to fight. There was news of rioting, of looting. He owed it to Tony to keep him and Miss Potts safe, right now the Omega couldn’t defend himself, he was too ill, too weak from lack of food. So James would do his best to protect him from any danger that might present itself until Tony was back on his feet. 

No matter how long it took for that to happen.


	2. Chapter 2

The thing was, James, as he now called himself in his head, didn’t feel like the Bucky Barnes that Steve Rogers remembered. 

He had the memories, most of them at least, but he didn’t feel like that man. That young and naïve man who had gone to war, thinking that he would do his duty, defeat the damn Nazis and then go home, find work in a car shop as a grease monkey, eventually find the right Beta Woman or Omega, settle down and have a family. 

How very innocent he had been. Thinking that he could go to war and come home unchanged, that going into battle, taking lives, even though they were enemies, wouldn’t change him, wouldn’t leave a weight on his conscience that would forever haunt him. 

It wasn’t spoken of back then of course, conscientious objectors were treated with scorn, as if it was something to be ashamed of, not wanting to take a life. James himself had scorned them, scoffed at the notion of not wanting to defend the weak and the innocent. Then he’d gone into actual war, had heard the screams of the injured, the cries and the choking, rattling breaths of dying. He’d had blood splatter his face, tasted it in his mouth, warm, bitter, sickening. He’d seen the heads of men explode as a bullet passed through them. It wasn’t like in the movies where there was just a trickle of blood besides a neat hole, the exit wound was the size of a cantaloupe melon and blood, shattered bone, and brain matter would spray across the ground. 

He'd thrown up the first time he’d seen the contents of a man’s skull spread over the ground, and again the first time he’d pulled the trigger and seen a man fall to the ground. The weight of what he had just done, the life he had taken hitting him like a blow to the gut. 

Later, when he’d been ashen faced, sweating, and thinking he would get court marshalled his C.O. had taken him aside, slapped him on the back and told him it was normal, that all of them felt it the first time, only the crazy ones didn’t feel sick when they took a life and everyone kept clear of them. 

Knowing that he hadn’t done anything wrong had reassured him and James had pulled himself together, spent time with the lads, drinking, smoking, playing cards, rough housing, and carried on doing his job, silently shedding tears and begging a God he wasn’t sure even existed for forgiveness for taking lives. 

Why Steve had been so keen to go to War, to experience the horrors that James was struggling to cope with, he had no idea. 

Then came that God forsaken prison, being injected with the serum which had lain dormant in his blood until he’d fallen from the train, the adrenaline caused by the terror triggering it and saving his life. 

He'd have rather he’d died. Death would have been far more preferable than being Hydra’s pet assassin for seventy years, having his crushed arm amputated without an anaesthetic, being tortured, brain washed, left without any idea of who he was beyond what his handler told him. 

James would have liked to have forgotten all of that, all of the murders he’d committed. But while the trigger words had been deactivated, he still remembered the last seventy years. It was like watching a horror movie with yourself as the villain, committing horrific crimes and being unable to do anything about it. 

James remembered it all, every life, every crushed throat, snapped neck, smashed skull, fired gun, bloodied knife. The faces of his victims still haunted his dreams, their frightened eyes, mouths parted as they let out their final breath. 

Some nights he would wake up covered in sweat, shaking and sobbing. He didn’t pray anymore, he’d given up on there being any kind of God out there who could absolve him. 

It didn’t matter that the laws had decided that he was innocent because of Hydra’s conditioning, his own conscience was not so forgiving and deep down James didn’t think he should be forgiven so easily. Not after all the pain he’d caused, all the families he’d torn apart and destroyed. 

So no, he was not the Bucky Barnes that Steve Rogers remembered, he wasn’t the happy go lucky, charmer with a sharp wit, easy smile, and optimistic view on life. 

He was changed, very changed by all he had seen, all he done, and all he had endured. 

Steve didn’t understand that though, he still believed James to be his Bucky, his best friend, thought that he could easily slide right back into his place at Steve’s side as if they had never been apart. 

He didn’t seem to get it, that James was different now, that he couldn’t just go back to how he had been before the war, before Hydra, and his refusal to understand this was frustrating James more and more. 

Before Stark had returned from space, James had been regretting leaving Wakanda and coming back to the compound with Steve and his remaining team, he’d wished he’d remained in Wakanda, tending his goats, living a simple and peaceful life. Where he wasn’t constantly being pestered to go on runs, shown photos, asked if he remembered this or that. 

Maybe he hadn’t been that way before, but James appreciated the quiet now, he didn’t like a lot of people around him, preferred being alone, or just having one or two people to speak with. 

He had actually been contemplating leaving the compound, going to New York to see if he could help at all, but then the space ship had come bringing Tony Stark home, and the others had gone to fight Thanos again, leaving James in a peaceful compound, with only Tony and Miss Potts, for company, silent company, as Tony was sleeping and Miss Potts was by his bedside.

James did not intrude, he looked through the glass at the sleeping Omega and the Beta Woman sat at his bedside, checking that they were alright, then he went on his way, making a silent patrol of the compound, going all around the estate to ensure that they were safe before he returned to the medical bay to look in on them once more. 

Once he caught Miss Potts on her way back from the bathroom and had a short exchange of pleasantries with her before he went on his way, never stepping into Tony’s room, not until the Omega himself called him in.

*****

Tony slept for six hours straight, the longest he’d slept since Thanos had snapped away half the universe, since Peter had turned to ash in his hands. 

For one blissful second when he awoke, Tony had thought that everything was okay, that he was just waking up in his bed and that there was nothing wrong. Then he’d remembered, then he wished he hadn’t woken up at all.

Why had Strange given Thanos the stone, why spare his life? Tony would have given anything to trade places with Peter, to have had that precious boy live. 

He might have started crying, might have shed a few tears but Pepper was there, holding his hand, kissing his cheek, assuring him that he was safe. Not that he cared if he was safe or not, that didn’t matter, not anymore, the biggest threat had come and gone and they had lost, Jesus fuck had they lost. Yet Team Cap had gone off for another try against Thanos, as if it would make any difference. 

Rhodey had gone too, And Nebula, the blue meanie, the Smurf, Tony bet he’d be in a world of pain if Nebula ever discovered what Smurfs were. The weird glowing chick, Carol had gone with them, maybe she could make a difference. 

Maybe. 

Tony doubted it. 

In the endgame now. Yeah fucking right Strange, endgame, there was no game, there was nothing, they had lost and nothing could change that.

“You need to eat.” Pepper said getting to her feet, “Light meals, Bruce said, bland stuff that’s easy to digest.” 

Tony managed to give her a weak smile, he had no appetite, partly because of the three weeks of starvation, and partly because he just didn’t care anymore. 

A shadow passed over the bed and Tony looked up, seeing the Winter Soldier. No, Barnes, standing outside looking in on him. His expression was concerned, watchful, as if he was worried about Tony, though why he would be the Omega couldn’t fathom. 

Sighing he raised a shaking hand and beckoned to Barnes, “If you going to stand there watching me you might as well come in, I’m not a damn goldfish and don’t want to be treated like one.”

For a second Tony thought Barnes might bolt he looked so shaken, then he appeared to gather his courage and came into the room, only just coming through the door and hovered there uncertainly.

“I don’t want to intrude.” He said looking anxiously at Tony. 

“You’re not, I invited you.” Tony replied, “And you can come closer, I don’t bite.” Had he humour left he might have made a joke about only biting if he was asked too. But his humour seemed to have died with Peter and half the universe. 

Barnes came closer but remained at the foot of the bed, forming a parade rest as he looked at Tony. 

“So, how come you’re not with the rest of Roger’s team, aren’t you his right hand man or whatever?” Tony asked, “Or has Romanoff taken that spot again, if she ever left it.” Damn the manipulative bitch and a her backstabbing bullshit. 

“Didn’t wanna leave you and Miss Potts undefended.” Barnes replied, shrugging his shoulders, “S’not safe, there’s riots and lootin’, I thought it best someone be here in case something happened.”

Tony was taken aback by this. Bucky Barnes had chosen to remain to protect him and Pepper? 

“Also, I wanted a chance to speak to you.” Barnes said his gaze shifted nervously and his posture seeming to grow more compact as he hunched in on himself. “I wanted to apologize. For Siberia, for your parents. I know it doesn’t change anything, I know I can never undo what I did, or make it right, but I wanted you to know that I am sorry.”

There was no lie in his voice or on his face that Tony could see and he had been around a lot of liars. Barnes was genuine in his apology, was admitting that he couldn’t make up for what had happened but wanted Tony to know that he was genuinely contrite. 

Two years ago Tony would have launched himself at Barnes, would have screamed at him and tried to beat him, blaming him for Howard and Maria. However, having had time to process he knew it wasn’t really Barnes’ fault. His body had done those things but not by his own volition, it was Hydra who were to blame, as they were for so much, and Steve Rogers for keeping it a secret. If he’d only come clean when he’d first found out then Tony wouldn’t have lost it in Siberia, he wouldn’t have reacted as he had because he’d have had the time he needed to process and deal with it. 

But when he’d been shown the tape like that, had learned that Rogers knew, had known for some time and kept it from him, even having the audacity to bitch at Tony for not telling him about his plans for Ultron, Tony had been unable to control himself, all he had known was pain and anger. 

He’d been lost in his fury, had wanted to make Barnes and Rogers hurt as he was hurting, to get revenge for his parents. He hadn’t been thinking clearly, had been too in shock, too hurt, too traumatized to think beyond beating both super soldiers to the ground. 

Now though, that anger had passed, at least where Barnes was concerned. Rogers however, that fucking letter he’d sent hadn’t helped matters, it had been salt in the wound and Tony wasn’t ready for forgive and forget, doubted he ever would be. 

But Barnes though, he was different, he hadn’t had a choice, where Steve had, and Barnes had never lied to Tony or betrayed him.

Taking a deep breath Tony managed to force something like a smile onto his face, “Thank you.” He said and Barne’s startled eyes met his. “I appreciate your apology and your honesty, and I’m sorry too, for hurting you. I know now that you weren’t to blame, but at the time I couldn’t comprehend that, the only ones to blame are Hydra.” And Steve for being a lying bastard. 

Barnes didn’t look like he quite knew what to do with Tony’s forgiveness and to keep him from getting uncomfortable Tony gestured to his arm. 

“That’s new, Wakandan tech I assume?”

Barnes looked down at his arm, “Yeah, Princess Shuri made it for me.” 

“The genius Princess who’s going to change the world”

“Was.” 

Tony’s smile fell, another lost kid. 

Presently Pepper came in carrying a plate of toast and some juice for Tony to eat and drink, she paused when she saw Barnes but noted that both men seemed relaxed and took the food to Tony. 

“I’m going to have to head back to the city.” She said looking regretful, “Whats left of the board are gathering for a meeting, we need to decide how to keep the business afloat, how we’re going to secure the jobs of those who are still here.” 

“The streets aren’t safe.” Barnes said, “You can’t go alone.”

Pepper arched and eyebrow at him, “I can take care of myself, thank you Sergeant. However your concern, while appreciated is unnecessary, a chopper is coming to fly me to the meeting, I won’t be driving.” She gave Tony a grateful smile, “They’ll be very relieved that you are back. We’ll have to do press coverage in a few days, once we know how we’re going to proceed and if you feel up to it…”

“I’ll be there.” Tony said immediately. 

Pepper rolled her eyes, she knew better than to argue with Tony, even if he had two broken legs he’d drag himself out of bed to get back to work. 

“Please rest over the next few days.” She said, “And eat, you must have lost forty pounds, you need to get your strength back.” 

Picking up a slice of toast Tony nibbled on a corner, “Yes Mother.” He mumbled.

Sighing, Pepper looked to Barnes, “Can you make sure he stays in bed and eats and drinks properly, no coffee. Only juice, milk, or water.” 

“What! Pepper that’s just mean, that is cruel and unusual punishment!” 

Tony’s protested fell on deaf ears as Barnes immediately agreed to do as Pepper said. Tony scowled at them both, it wasn’t fair, he’d only been home five minutes and he was being ganged up on, made to stay in bed, and now he was being deprived of coffee! 

Life completely sucked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know you are nothing but a servant in your own house, when you are practically sitting on the floor while the cat stretches out over the sofa and complains if you try to move her.

Okay. James Barnes was a fucking sadist. 

The Winter soldier was NOTHING compared to James bastard Buchanan coffee depriving Barnes. 

The sadistic torturer refused to let Tony have any coffee at all, he wouldn’t even let him have mocha cupcakes, WTF? So not fair. Apparently, Pepper’s new ass kissing brown noser, believed that the mocha cakes contained too much caffeine and would be too rich on Tony’s delicate stomach. 

Bull-fucking-shit. 

Tony put up with the depravation diet for about two hours and then snuck down to the kitchens while Barnes was in the toilet and got himself some coffee and, Thank you oh Lord Jesus, some chocolate. 

Okay, so it might have been a bad idea to drink black coffee and to gulp down nearly 100g of chocolate after being without food for so long, and yes, he might have ended up puking his guts out and then complaining a lot (Not piteously) Barnes was clearly lying there, about his stomach pains. 

But he totally and completely did not deserve the disgusted/exasperated look that Barnes shot him when he asked if Donuts were out of the question. 

Really, was it so outrageous that he wanted some? He wouldn’t even have anything too rich. Just a few sugar, and jam, and custard, oh God he needed a Nutella donut so bad that he could practically taste it, and what did he get, what was he given for a meal? 

Thin crappy broth, a plain wholemeal roll, a glass of milk (Yuck to the power of gross) and oh joy, a bowl of sugar free jelly that Pepper (Evil bitch from hell) had made up especially for him. 

James could barely keep the grin off his face at Tony’s unhappy expression at his meal. One would have thought he’d been handed a bowl of gruel he seemed so disgusted by the very plain fare. 

But after his caffeine and chocolate binge had resulted in him being violently sick, James thought it better to keep him on very basic food so he wouldn’t upset his stomach again. 

“Prisoners on death row get better than this.” He grumbled petulantly as he dunked his butterless roll in the soup. 

James rose an eyebrow at the statement, “You are not a prisoner.” He said. 

“Really? Fucking feels like I am, not allowed to leave this bed, denied coffee, guarded by a barely house trained Alsatian.” He paused and took another bite of the bread, “No offence.”

“None taken.” James replied dryly, “I thought I was more of a Doberman. Steve of course, well he started out as a sort of annoying chihuahua, and then he grew into an even more annoying Golden Retriever!” 

Tony barked a laugh at that causing James to smile too. When he did his whole face changed, the surly and brooding darkness left him and his face instantly became brighter and younger. 

“You’re not bad.” Tony said, pointing at James with his soup spoon, “At least you’ve got a sense of humour, which more than can be said for Captain tight-ass. Was he always that way or is it something that’s happened over the years?”

James paused considering the question and searched his memories before he answered, “I think he was always kind of like that.” He said, “It just became worse after he became Captain America. He seemed to constantly be disapproving of any kind of ribbing aimed at him, I think he got such a chip on his shoulder after he left the stage behind and became Captain America for real, that he couldn’t handle any kind of mockery, even when it was being done through friendly teasing.” 

By now Tony had finished the roll and the soup and he was looking mutinously at the jelly, in fact the malevolence in his eyes suggested that he might try to murder the innocent dessert. 

“I thought it might have something to do with that, and his shtick about bullies. He didn’t seem to understand that teasing and bullying isn’t the same thing, that teasing can be friendly and playful where bullying is always malicious.” He sighed and shoved the tray away from himself leaving the milk and the jelly. 

“You need to eat and drink that.” James said, “You are skin and bones, and that vomit-fest earlier won’t have helped matters.”

Tony pulled a face at the mention of that and scowled at the jelly as if it had personally offended him. “Ice cream.” He murmured.

“Absolutely not.” James said, “All that sugar and cream, you’ll be emptying your guts out in no time!”

Tony wouldn’t be dissuaded though, getting out of bed and making to remove his IV. 

“Christ Stark, you are worse than a misbehaving child!” 

“Bite me Frosty,” Tony snarked, batting at James’s hands as he tried to get him back to bed, “I want Ice cream and I’m going to get it, and I won’t be sick from it, because, unlike in the dark ages where you and Rogers are from, we actually have these wonderful inventions called Low Fat and Low Sugar, which is what I am going to have.” 

“Do you also have gags in this wonderful century, or how about earplugs, I could do with earplugs. I swear my Goats didn’t make as much noise as you do or complain as much.”

The look of utter outrage Tony shot him was priceless, “Are you comparing my wonderful self to a goat?”

James shrugged and ran his flesh fingers over Tony’s stubbled jaw, “You’ve kind of got the billy goat scruff and beard going on.” 

“Uh, jackass. Clearly your serum is faulty because your eyesight is terrible if you can’t see how flaming hot and fine I am!” Tony shot back, “Maybe you should invest in a guide dog and a white stick, oh no, wait, the golden retriever is in space right now, sorry, I guess you’ll just have to use the stick.” 

“Just as you no doubt have to invest in new teeth and probably a new jaw and tongue every few months because you wear your mouth out talking so much.” James squinted, eyeing Tony’s face as if he were looking for flaws, “Yeah, you know, I can see the damage building up there already, its pretty bad, or is that just sagging jowls?” 

Tony gave a chocked cry of outrage, “Sagging? You want to talk about sagging? Have you seen your face in the mirror? Shit if that brow of yours falls any further over your eyes you’re gonna be like those dogs with the excess skin. Seriously, you are like a caveman with facial cellulitis!” 

James laugh aloud enjoying the quick witted Omega’s retorts and the teasing that was going on between them. He’d expected Tony to hate him, expected to be treated with fear and suspicion, but after they got past the first few uncomfortable minutes they seemed to be able to relax around each other, even feeling comfortable enough for this stupid insult session. 

Sighing Tony grabbed hold of the IV pole and started towards the door, “Pepper always has some low fat ice cream in the freezer, some Halo-top or Skinny Cow. She only eats the full fat versions on rare occasions, something about calories and boring crap like that.” He said, not even glancing over his shoulder as he seemed to know instinctively that James would be following. “Halo-top isn’t bad though, its probably the best low fat ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Pep won’t mind us having a couple of bowls, after all she wanted me to eat.”

James had given up on arguing by now, he just kept pace with Tony, which wasn’t difficult, the Omega had no strength left to move with any real speed, and his footsteps were unsteady, his body shaky as he moved so James kept close in case he lost his footing. A fall could seriously injure him, the state he was in. James had watched a documentary on the TV when he’d been in Wakanda about the effects starvation had on the body, how it thinned the bones and made them prone to fractures. Tony was a walking skeleton right now, if he fell he could easily break a dozen bones or more, which would set back his recovery by weeks if not months. 

Once they reached the kitchen James insisted that Tony sit at the counter and let him rummage through the freezer. The Billionaire agreed, only getting up to get bowls and spoons before he returned to the counter, while James found a couple of a pints of halo-top ice cream in the freezer, one of strawberry and the other chocolate chip cookie dough. Figuring that the strawberry would probably be easy for Tony to digest he gave the Billionaire that and decided to try his first cookie dough ice cream. 

Wow. He had not lived until this moment. How did he survive all his years without this? 

“Good huh?” Tony said, “You need to try a full fat version though, Ben and Jerries cookie dough, or even better, half baked, which is half cookie dough and half chocolate fudge brownie, so fucking good.” 

“They put brownies in ice cream?” James was going to double his body weight in this century if all the food was this good. 

“Ha just wait till you try peanut butter cup, they put Reeces pieces in peanut butter ice cream, oh and you’ve got to try my ice cream.” James rose an eyebrow,

“You have an ice cream?”

“Yahuh, Ben and Jerries names one after me. Stark raving hazelnut. Its pretty good.” 

James opened his mouth to reply but the Compound began to shake and the sound of something heavy landing outside silenced him. 

They were back. 

*****

Tony’s good mood evaporated as the Avengers team, Captain Marvel, Nebula, and Rocket came into the compound. Thor wasn’t with them, he’d taken himself off to Norway it seemed, where his people had chosen to settle, what few of them were left. 

The rest of them came in, downcast, despairing. Obviously it hadn’t worked. 

Nebula met Tony’s eyes as they came in and gave him a nod. The two of them had become oddly close in the past few weeks, they appreciated each-other, had supported each-other, and stayed sane during that endless space flight. 

“Tony.” Steve said an overly bright smile spreading over his face as he saw the Billionaire, “How are you feeling?”

“Peachy.” Tony replied tartly, he slid of the bar stool and pushed away his still half full bowl, “I’m going back to bed.” He said to James taking hold of his IV pole and began to make his way through the kitchen. Natasha grabbed his bowl and began to finish the ice cream, not looking like she was enjoying it though, rather she was just eating because it was available and she was hungry. 

“Tony wait.” Steve said grabbing Tony’s painfully thin wrist and pulling him back, he probably didn’t pull him that hard but in Tony’s condition the action had him falling to the ground, his knees colliding painfully hard on the floor and his IV getting torn out of the back of his hand sending blood spraying over the floor. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Tony cried trying to get out of Steve’s grasp. As Rhodey swore and grabbed a tea-towel to stop the bleeding, wrapping it about his hand and pressing it tight while Bruce hurried to get the first aid kit. 

“Tony I’m trying to help you.” Steve scolded him trying to reach for him even though Tony was cringing away. 

“I said don’t touch me, are you fucking deaf or something?” Tony shouted his voice and breathing taking on a panicky note, he tried to scramble to his feet but his legs gave out and he fell back to the ground, shaking even more. Damnit no, he couldn’t have a panic attack, not here, not in front of everyone, he had to get out of here, had to be on his own, fuck, why wouldn’t his legs work? 

Tears of frustration pricked at his eyes and his shaking grew worse as it became increasingly obvious that he wouldn’t be able to get up on his own, he could hear Rhodey and Steve speaking over him, talking about something, him probably, acting like he was a child who couldn’t care for himself, like he was still an irresponsible drunken slut. Damnit, he couldn’t do this here, he couldn’t breakdown here, not like this! 

He squeezed his eyes shut and then suddenly he was moving, he was being lifted up into a bridal carry and swept out of the kitchen and through the compound, going back to the med bay and lain on the bed. 

His breathing was still ragged, he was still struggling with the attack, but his rescuer just held him, eased him forward so his head was between his knees and rubbed soothingly at his back, not saying anything to him, just offering a silent support until he was able to breathe again without hyperventilating. 

“Take it easy, you can’t be getting yourself worked up, your body can’t take it.” 

Barnes, no Bucky, James. Of course, James had carried him from the kitchen. Blinking away the residual tears Tony offered a weak but grateful smile to the super soldier, tensing when the door was knocked and not relaxing even as Bruce came in with the first aid kit. Behind him, outside in the hall, Rhodey and Steve were hovering. 

“What, you never seen a man have a panic attack before?” He snarled at them, “I’m not a fucking spectacle, you want that, go find a goddamn side show.” 

“Tony!” Rhodey protested.

“Go!” Tony yelled, not wanting Rhodey around him, not when his oldest friend seemed to pitched his tent firmly in Rogers camp. So much for loyalty. Ok, rationally Tony knew that Thanos and his attack was far more important than anything else and Rhodey had been right to call them in for backup. But Tony wasn’t thinking or feeling rational right now, he was hurting and angry and he didn’t want Rogers anywhere near him. 

“Well, you won’t need stitches which is nothing short of a miracle.” Bruce said as he put a dressing over Tony’s hand, “You’ll need to keep that dry and you have got to rest.”

Tony glared hatefully at him, “Don’t tell me what to do.” He growled, “You have no right to tell me anything, not when you turned tail and fucking ran, leaving me to deal with all the fallout from Ultron. You got fucked up because of the Scarlet psycho’s mind rapes, we all did, me included, that little bitch violated me right at the base, pushed me into bringing Ultron online, what was your excuse for going along with it eh? The little bitch hadn’t gotten to you yet, but you were perfectly happy to let me carry the fucking can, let the team vilify me, Thor half strangle me, and then, when it was all said and done, you turned tail and ran for the nearest hole you could find.”

Tony was spitting mad now, was raging at Bruce who was caught between ashamed and offended as he tried to offer an apology and explanation, neither of which Tony was interested in hearing. 

“You can’t apologize for this Banner, you can’t make up for abandoning me when I need support the most. Have you any idea of what I went through after Ultron, the lawsuits, the courtcases, proving I was innocent, and I had to do it all alone because my “Friend” had fucked off to God knows where leaving me to deal with the shit storm he’d helped create. Then there was the Scarlet bitch living a charmed life at my expense here, Captain asshole acting like I was the anti-christ while living off me in my property, my last link to Jarvis utterly rejecting me while hooking up with the Hydra-whore who’d helped murder his AI predecessor.” 

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose I should have seen it coming, but I was stupid and sentimental enough to think that we might have been friends.”

Bruce looked stricken, “We are!”

Tony scoffed, “Friends don’t fall asleep while their friend whose on the verse of a nervous breakdown tries to open up to them. Friends don’t abandon each-other when it matters the most. Friends don’t stand by while others harm those they consider a friend.” A glacial coldness seemed spread over him as he sank back against the pillows, “If that is what is considered a friend, what the hell do you need enemies for?”

Bruce was hurt, ashamed, and feeling guilty as he got up from the bed and made his way to the door, he paused and looked back at Tony a look of regret on his face before he continued on, closing the door behind him. 

“Do you want me to go too?” James asked his voice low, that Winter Soldier throaty growl instead of the Brooklyn twang. 

“Please yourself.” Tony said turning his back. He heard shuffling, the sound of a chair being pulled up and a body sinking down. Apparently James was pleased to stay. “Thank you.” Tony whispered, not really sure what he was thanking James for but doing so anyway.

“You’re welcome.” James replied his voice softer now, soothing, helping Tony’s frazzled nerves settle and his body slip back into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce felt terrible. Guilt was churning in his stomach and weighing heavily on his heart, and not just his heart, Hulk was unhappy too, unhappy with him, which was nothing new, although Hulk was rarely as vocal about his displeasure as he was now. Normally it was a lot of grumbling, grunting, and demands to smash. Right now… well, Hulk would never be a wordsmith, but he was giving more than single words. 

“HURT TIN MAN. STUPID BANNER. BAD FRIEND.”

“I know I was. I know I’m stupid.” Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them tiredly, “You know I never meant to hurt Tony, that I never meant for us to be gone as long as we were.”

“HULK LIKED PLANET. HULK HAPPY THEN, NOT HAPPY NOW!” 

Bruce winced Hulk’s unhappiness felt rather like a migraine. 

“You do realize you could have helped, when Thanos attacked..” Hulk’s roar made Bruce’s brain throb. 

“NOT HULKS FAULT!” Hulk bellowed, “STUPID PURPLE GIANT, STUPID ALIENS, STUPID BANNER, AND STUPID PUNY CAP.”

“Right, fine. Everyone is stupid.” Bruce sighed. Hulk grumbled and Bruce could almost picture the behemoth stomping his foot and pouting like a unhappy toddler. 

“MISS TIN MAN.” He growled as Bruce neared the kitchen, where the others, save for Nebula and Rocket, who had gone out to their ship, were gathered. “TIN MAN GOOD. TIN MAN LIKE HULK, NOT AFRAID. TREAT HULK AS FRIEND.”

“I know buddy, I know.” And Bruce did know, Tony had been the only one who wasn’t afraid of Hulk, other than Thor, who didn’t count to Hulk because he was a “Puny God” and didn’t get hurt when Hulk punched him, which he did, frequently, because it was funny. 

Steve and Clint had always been wary of Hulk, they trusted him enough to do what needed to be done, but never turned their backs on him, Natasha too was wary and manipulative. Hulk didn’t like her, didn’t trust her, but Bruce had fallen under her spell, at least until she’d shoved him into a pit, then that spell had been broken. 

Tony however. He’d been poking Bruce in the side the day they met, teasing him about staying mellow through smoking pot. Out right telling him that he should be proud of Hulk not ashamed. He’d been the only one who’d trusted that Hulk and Bruce would show up in midtown when needed. Trusted that Hulk would know who to fight and who to save. That had been what had prompted Hulk to save Tony when he’d been falling from the sky, and he’d had a soft spot for Tony ever since, (His temper tantrum regarding the lift and having to take the stairs not withstanding) 

“We’ll try and make things better with Tony,” Bruce promised Hulk, “But for now, we need to give him some space.”

“STUPID PLAN. GO BACK NOW.” 

“No Hulk. Tony needs to rest, he needs to sleep and needs to have time to process, to heal. We have to give him that time before we can begin to make amends.”

“NO AMENDS, HULK DONE NOTHING. STUPID BANNER APOLOGIZE.” 

Bruce snorted, “Fine, Stupid me apologises then.”

“GET CHOCOLATE TOO. TIN MAN LIKE CHOCOLATE, AND COFFEE.”

“I know he does big guy, but neither is good for him right now. When he’s recovered a little more, we’ll take him both, maybe with some burgers too. How does that sound?” 

Hulk rumbled a pleased sounding noise and finally felt silent, allowing Bruce to go into the kitchen where another argument was taking place, this one between Natasha, Steve, and Rhodey. Carol had gone out to join Nebula and Rocket, leaving the three to scream at each other in private. 

“He is just being childish. I get that he was hurt, I get that he is upset, but for heavens sakes we all are and he hasn’t lost half as much as anyone else!” Steve shouted at a livid looking Rhodey. 

“Oh, you selfish bastard. How can you stand there and say that, have you any idea what Peter Parker meant to him? He was the son Tony never had, he adored the kid, seeing him die would have torn him apart.”

“As it has many parents, I am sure.” Natasha coolly said, “Why should Stark get special treatment?” 

Rhodey’s searing glare would have made anyone else back away but Natasha held her ground as if she were daring him to make a move against her. 

“In case you haven’t noticed, Agent Romanova, Tony is almost dead on his feet. I doubt he weighs much more than 110lbs right now, a puff of wind could knock him over. He’s physically compromised as well as mentally and emotionally. That is why he gets “Special treatment” as you put it.”

“He needs to get past it.” Natasha said, “Put aside his personal issues and focus on the bigger picture.”

“Like you do, you mean?” Rhodey mocked, “Always switching sides whenever it suits you, that’s your MO isn’t it? Betrayal, stabbing people in the back the first chance you get so you save your own skin.” Rhodey actually dared to advance on Natasha and used his height to tower over her, making her crane her neck to meet his eyes. “You say that you are looking to the bigger picture, that you are thinking of the whole rather than the part, but the truth is, you are only thinking of yourself and you wouldn’t know loyalty if it smacked you in your arrogant face.”

“And you would?” Natasha hissed back, sounding like a snake. “You claim to be Tony’s best friend, his “Rhodey-bear” How many times have you betrayed him? You gave evidence against him to congress, you beat him and stole the war machine from him, you did nothing when Thor tried to strangle him, and you were perfectly happy to welcome us back here.” She pulled her lips back revealing her teeth in sneer, “You call me a traitor? Well what does that make you?”

“Alright enough!” Steve shouted, “This isn’t helping anything, you both need to calm down.”

“And you need to back the fuck off and stop pretending that you are in charge of anything.” Rhodey snapped at him, taking the wind out of Steve’s sails, “I may have invited you back here, but only because I was desperate. I had just seen my best friend and a kid get taken away on a fucking space ship. More Aliens were coming and I needed back up.” He shrugged and snorted, “I probably shouldn’t have bothered, its not like we made a difference.”

That no one could argue with. The Avengers had failed. Fighting together, fighting apart, neither had worked and now the Universe had paid the ultimate price. 

“If Tony had seen sense earlier maybe we could have changed things.” Steve muttered and didn’t have time to dodge the fist that hit his face sending him stumbling back a couple of steps. 

Rhodey clutched his hand, rubbing his knuckles while glaring at Steve, “Don’t you put this on him.” He growled, “He isn’t to blame for your exile, you brought that on yourself. Refusing to negotiate, endangering civilians, taking the law into your own hands, and don’t you think for one fucking minute that I don’t know about Siberia and what you did.”

Steve rubbed at his cheek, “Tony attacked first.”

“He had good reason to.” Rhodey bellowed, “He had just seen his parents murdered by a man standing not five feet away from him, and you knew, you had known for two years, how did you think he would react, how would you have reacted if it had been your parents? I know what I would have done, and let me tell you, had I been in Tony’s place I wouldn’t have hesitated to blast you in the head with the repulsors before you got the chance to smash the reactor with your fucking shield.” 

Steve continued to look indignant, “Bucky was innocent.”

Even Natasha groaned, “That isn’t the point.” Rhodey cried, “Tony had a right to know, a right you denied him, and you still had the gall to give him shit about Ultron, while you were hiding that from him.” He broke off and gave a hollow laugh that was filled with bitterness, “You know, Captain America is meant to be the symbol of truth and integrity, is meant to uphold justice and liberty for all. What a fucking joke that is, and what a hypocrite you really are.”

Steve opened his mouth to retort then thought better of it and looked away. Natasha sighed heavily and ran her hand through her hair. 

“This isn’t helping.” She said, “We need to cool off and figure out what we’re going to do from here. Tearing ourselves apart isn’t going to help anything. There are still people out there who need help, now more than ever. We owe it to them to give them that help.” She between the two, “Agreed?” She said. After a few moments Rhodey and Steve murmured their agreements. 

“I think its safe for you to come in now, Bruce.” Natasha called, it didn’t surprise Bruce that she had known he was there, she always seemed to know things like that, damn spy training. 

“How is he?” Rhodey asked as soon as Bruce came into the kitchen.

“Distraught, malnourished, bordering on skeletal, and on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown.” Bruce replied, knowing that Rhodey meant Tony. “He seems to have formed at least the start of a friendship with Barnes though.”

“And Barnes seems oddly protective of him.” Natasha observed. She shrugged, “Its probably the Alpha Omega thing.”

“What?” Steve asked,

“Tony is an Omega, a weak and fragile Omega right now, that is probably bringing out all of Barnes’ protective Alpha instincts.” 

It was a reasonable if rather clinical theory, Rhodey however had another, “Maybe he’s just a decent guy and wants to make amends for past hurts.” He held up his hand when Steve began to launch into another “Bucky is innocent” speech, “Enough Man, I’m tired, I’m gonna go look in on my brother and then go to bed.”

“Don’t disturb him if he is asleep.” Bruce cautioned, “He needs to rest especially after that anxiety attack.” Rhodey saluted him as he headed out of the kitchen leaving just Steve, Natasha, and Bruce. 

“Tea?” Natasha offered and Bruce nodded, taking a seat at the counter and took off his glasses to rub at his eyes. He didn’t want to be here anymore. The team, this “Family” It was fractured, Steve and Natasha had both disappointed him, hell, he’d disappointed himself. He still had issues to sort out, especially with Hulk and his refusal to come out to fight, if he was going to really confront them then he needed to be alone, it just wouldn’t be safe for others in case Hulk grew violent. 

But.. He couldn’t leave without giving Tony his apologies, even if Tony didn’t accept, he would have tried. 

Also, he wanted to run a full blood panel and several body scans on Tony before he took off for wherever. Nebula had said he’d been injured and while the infection might have cleared there could still be internal issues. He also wanted to check Tony’s kidneys and liver function, to ensure they were still working enough to be safe. Once he was satisfied that Tony was healthy and on the road to recovery, then he would take the time to deal with his and Hulk’s issues, and maybe resolve them for good.

*****

The downside of supersoldier hearing was that James heard everything going on in the kitchen. The screaming match between Natasha, Steve, and Rhodes, also Banner’s odd one sided conversation. He knew of the Doctor’s other half, the big green monster, but had never met him in person, but he supposed that was who the Doctor was talking to.

Tony slept through the whole thing, his exhausted body falling into a deep sleep that James guarded, watching the rise and fall of the too thin torso. 

He would agree with both Natasha and Rhodes’ reasoning for him having formed an attachment to Tony. His Alpha instincts were engaged, he did see the current fragility in Tony, that he needed to be protected and cared for while he regained his strength and health. But equally he did want to make amends as Rhodes had cited. 

When the Colonel came to the med bay, James stayed very still feigning sleep while Rhodes came in, whispering a soft apology to Tony and promises to be there for him now. He didn’t even twitch when Rhodey tucked the blankets around Tony and pressed a gentle kiss to his head, bidding him goodnight. 

Between his eyelashes, James watched as Rhodey left them, turning off the lights in the room so the only illumination came from the hall. He counted Rhodey’s steps, not opening his eyes until he was twenty paces away, then he rose to his feet and silently crossed the room and shut the door which provided a little more security for the sleeping Omega that he was determined to protect.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony spent the next few days in bed resting save for short walks about the compound to stretch his legs and prevent muscle atrophy, he was still lacking energy and couldn’t be out of bed for long periods but with his heart condition there was too much risk of blood clots forming if he didn’t move around. 

Bruce was able to remove the IV permanently after the second day as Tony was consuming enough fluids and fluid replacement meals orally for him to no longer need to intravenous feed. 

The Doctor avoided Tony’s eyes as he removed the needle, and applied a dressing to Tony’s hand, “I’ll need to check the other hand.” He said, “As you’re underweight, your immune system will be weak, the last thing you need is an infection.” 

“Go ahead.” Tony said holding out his bandaged hand for Bruce. He watched as the Doctor continued to try and keep from meeting his eyes and noted how Bruce had his shoulders hunched up and was twitching, a sure sign that Hulk was giving him shit and Bruce was trying to ignore him. 

“What’s up with the big guy?” He asked, making Bruce jump and look up at him with a guilty expression. 

“It’s nothing.” He mumbled quickly going back to cutting the bandage and exposing Tony’s hand. His whole torso jerked and he cursed under his breath, a ripple of green running over his skin for a moment, as if his veins had suddenly been filled with an emerald fluid. 

“Big guy sure seems to think it’s something.” Tony commented, “Is it anything to do with why he wouldn’t show himself for the fight?” 

“No.” Bruce said and sighed as he set down the scissors and bloody bandage, getting an anti-septic wipe to clean Tony’s hand with, “He’s upset.” He said, carefully cleaning the scabbed over skin, taking care not to reopen the wound but also making sure he cleaned it all so no infection could take hold. 

“About Thanos?”

Bruce’s shoulders hunched again and he ducked his head giving Tony a pretty good clue as to what was upsetting the big guy. Him. Great, what else was new. Wasn’t he always causing distress wherever he went? God, when was he going to stop fucking up people’s lives and making them miserable? 

Look at Rhodey, if it weren’t for him the Colonel wouldn’t need those braces, he’d still be able to walk without assistance, Peter, Christ that poor kid, he would have been so much better off without Tony in his life. Wouldn’t have died on a planet in the ass end of space, away from his aunt, his friends, everyone. 

“I don’t want to go I don’t want to go. I’m sorry.” The look on Peter’s face, those final words, they haunted Tony, filled his dreams, echoed in his mind, he couldn’t escape the image of Peter crumbling to ash in his hands, a teenage boy whose whole life was ahead of him, gone. 

“Done.” 

Tony jerked up with a start and saw that Bruce had replaced the dressing, “Thanks.” He murmured and rubbed at his jaw, God he needed to shave, his face itched with his overgrowth of beard. “I don’t suppose you can get me a razor and a mirror?” He asked Bruce, doubting that he could stand long enough to do the shaving in front of the bathroom mirror.

“Are you hands steady enough, or do you want me to shave you?” Bruce asked dubiously. Tony held out both hands, there were some tremors but nothing he couldn’t cope with. “Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes with what you need.” The Doctor packed up the medical supplies and started to leave before pausing in the doorway and turned back looking regretful. “I am sorry Tony.” He said making the Billionaire frown.

“For what?” 

“For not supporting you, for letting you take all the blame after Ultron. For not being a friend to you, not a good friend anyway.” He gave Tony a rueful smile, “That’s what’s bothering the big guy. He’s mad at me, he doesn’t like how I’ve treated you and frankly he’s right. I have treated you terribly and I am sorry for it. I know that I can’t undo that, and I can’t make up for it, not really, but I want you to know that I do regret my actions and my inactions.”

Somebody truly apologizing to him was not something that Tony experienced very often (Like ever) mostly it was an off the cuff sorry without much feeling behind it and he was expected to brush off whatever slight or indiscretion or insult had been given and act as if it had never happened. Bruce was actually apologizing to him sincerely, not expecting anything in return, just wanting him to know that he did care and he did feel badly. 

Tony exhaled loudly, “What the hell, Bruce?” He asked helplessly, “What am I supposed to do with that?” Bruce’s expression was tragic as he didn’t understand Tony’s reaction, when he apologized to others they either accepted the apology and moved on or they told him to go to hell, he was unsure of what to do with Tony’s confusion. 

“You don’t have to do anything.” He said, “I don’t expect anything.”

“Of course you do, you have to, why else would you apologize to me?” 

Hurt flashed in Bruce’s eyes followed by a little indignant anger before a look of understanding settled there, “No one has ever apologized to you and not expected something from you, have they?” It wasn’t really a question as he already knew or at least guessed the answer, “Shit Tony, and I thought my personal history was a mess.”

“Hey!” Tony tried to shrug it off, but his smile was weak, no light reaching his eyes, his usual masks were gone right now, he couldn’t hide his emotions, he was too exhausted to do so. “Let’s not begin a contest on who has the shittiest past because, A, that is so lame, B, we’re not teenage girls looking to blubber into ice cream over our broken hearts, and C, my faithful Doberman would have to join in and then we’d have to try and braid his hair and I have never braided hair in my life and would most likely scalp him. So no, lets not, okay big guy, lets just call it even and be done.”

The faithful Doberman, or rather James ‘Bucky’ Barnes came into the room carrying a tray containing Tony’s mid-morning meal, Bruce had put him on six very small meals a day or meal replacements to get his body weight back up and stretch his stomach to he could start to eat properly again. 

“You ain’t braiding my hair doll, try it and I’ll shave that bush you call face hair right off your pretty mug!” 

“Aww, Snowflake, you think I’m pretty?” 

James scoffed at Tony’s batting eyelashes and placed the small bowl of porridge before him, the bowl only had six spoons full of substance but that was enough to fill Tony right now and James had remembered to mix in a generous amount of brown sugar so Tony was satisfied with it. Both he and Bruce knew what Tony was doing, using humour to deflect and hoping to change the subject to get away from what was a painful topic. Were he not still so emotionally fragile right now then they might have pushed for him to stay on topic, but neither wanted him to be upset again so they let Tony have his way, making sure he ate and then Bruce gave him the razor and mirror, soap, and a small bowl of water to shave with. 

Getting his goatee sorted made Tony feel more human, he could look in the mirror and recognize himself, not just see an abundance of face hair. Of course, getting rid of the hair revealed the gauntness of his face all the more, his hollow cheeks, sunken and shadowed eyes, the deepened lines that had appeared since he had last looked at himself properly. 

Fuck, he looked old. Tired and old, haggard and worn to the bone. Which was exactly how he felt, worn down, hollowed out until they were nothing left. Why, why did he have to live through this, why, when he’d already had nearly fifty years of life, did the fucking stones claim a teenager whose life hadn’t even begun? Where was the justice in that? 

Just more proof that the universe and life sucked. 

Were it not for the pain he knew it would cause Pepper and the added burden it would place up on her, then Tony would have found a way to end it all, it was only because he knew she would be hurt and betrayed by his doing so that he kept from committing suicide. She had already done so much for him, he owed her so much that he couldn’t let her down anymore than he already had. 

He'd promised he would be there when Stark Industries went to the press and he would do so. 

Eyeing his face critically he knew he’d need make up if he was going to get through this without being roasted, his shitty appearance might win him some sympathy but for the most part people would just be quick to point out that he looked like death warmed up. 

Not the image he needed to be presenting. 

“What are the chances I can get my ass out of this bed and over to Manhattan today?” He asked Bruce and James. 

“No chance.”

“Absolutely not.”

Tony rolled his eyes, predictable. Well, at least he’d tried to play fair. 

*****

Tony Stark would try the patience of a saint, that was something James learned very quickly. He was making and escape attempt not one hour after he and Doctor Banner had their… make up? Well Tony seemed to have forgiven Bruce, even if the Doctor hadn’t quite forgiven himself. 

It seemed, if what James had over heard was correct, that Tony wasn’t used to being given apologies at least not genuine ones, he just didn’t know how to handle it and so changed the subject to keep from delving into painful topics. That was something that James had had to learn not to do when he’d been having therapy in Wakanda, his therapist had given him some leeway, but had always steered the conversation back to what needed to be addressed so James could work through his issues. 

It was a work in progress. He wasn’t completely healed, never would be, one didn’t survive seventy years of torture, murder, and brutality without it leaving its mark, but he was functional now, and pretty stable. At least to the point that he wasn’t a danger to anyone or himself. 

Tony however, he was danger to himself with his stubborn refusal to do as he was told. For two days he’d behaved himself, then, he was making a break for freedom, lying about needing the toilet, and hobbling out of the bathroom and making his way out of the compound to the garage while James’ back was turned. 

The former Winter soldier found him on the grounds outside, trying to get past Nebula, trying to sweet talk her into believing that he was perfectly fine to be driving himself to Manhattan and that she shouldn’t worry her sweet Blueberry pie head over it. 

Apparently losing her patience with him, Nebula bent down and lifted Tony up over her shoulder like he was a sack of grain and began to cart him back to the compound, deaf to Tony’s complaints and threats. 

“You seem to have misplaced this.” She said to James as they met in the doorway. 

“Misplaced this, what am I a damn commodity?” Tony squawked indignantly. 

“No, you are a pain in the arse.” James replied and dealt a stinging slap to Tony’s backside for emphasis earning himself a string of creative curses from the Omega, “Can I take him off your hands?” He asked Nebula, she inclined her head and then passed Tony over, with James taking him into a bridal hold and smirked at the glower Tony was giving him. 

“See that he rests.” Nebula said sternly, “Or I will have to make sure of it myself.” There was something truly threatening in the way she said that and James had no difficulty imagining her tying Tony to a bed and holding him a gun point to ensure he stayed put. 

Tony naturally complained all the way back to bed, telling James how he had to get to Manhattan, he had to appear before the press in two days, he needed to get a suit that would fit instead swamp him, had to get his hair cut and some make-up for his shitty-ass complexion so he wouldn’t look like total crap in front of the cameras. 

“Why not give Miss Potts your measurements and have her get you a suit, or have your… um… voice, lady do it.”

“Friday.” Tony said, “She’s an AI.” He sighed, “Pepper has enough to do without running around after me, and I’m not sure how well online ordering it going right now, Friday?”

“I can have a suit delivered to Stark Tower in time for the press conference.” Friday said, her lilting Irish voice filling the room, “I believe you also have some make at the penthouse from your last conference.”

“Right. Okay, you know my tastes baby girl, lets get a tape measure and you can get me something ordered.”

With how thin he was, even the smallest waist, shoulder, and collar size were going to be a couple of inches too big, but there was no time for tailoring and at least the clothing wouldn’t swamp Tony as much as his regular clothes would. Friday also ordered a couple of pairs of jeans and shirts for him to wear while he recovered and ones the next size up so he would have something to wear as he regained weight, the jeans and t-shirts she had delivered to the compound so Tony actually had something to wear other than ill-fitting night clothes, at which point he refused to stay at the compound any longer. Insisting that he go to Manhattan and start helping Pepper. 

As he had been planning to head to New York himself, James chose to accompany him, he also wasn’t letting Tony go alone, he owed the Omega and wouldn’t let him get hurt if he could help it. 

With Tony’s mind made up and his health starting to improve, no one stood in his way anymore, Rhodes said that he’d be at the press conference, and he and Tony could “Talk” in a day or two, Natasha said nothing, neither approving or disapproving, Nebula, Rocket, and Carol were all planning on leaving earth soon, but said they would be in contact before they departed. Bruce said that he would probably head off as well, needing time and space to sort things out with Hulk, but would try and stay in touch. The only person who put up a fuss was unsurprisingly Steve. 

He didn’t want either Tony or James leaving the compound, protested against it and argued with them about how they couldn’t abandon the team now. 

“What team, Rogers?” Tony spat at him, “The team is dead, there is no team, not now, not in the future, it is gone, get over it.” 

Steve recoiled looking as if Tony had slapped him. “You don’t mean that.” He said, “I know how much the Avengers mean to you..”

“Meant to me.” Tony growled, “Past tense. I may have cared before, hell I did care, I cared in Germany, I cared in Siberia when you left me for dead, I even cared when I was trying to put my life back together after that shit show, but I stopped caring when I ended up facing Thanos with no back up except for a teenage boy and a handful of strangers. 

If you want to stay here and cling to the past be my guest, but I am done with all of this.” He pointed his finger at Steve glaring at him furiously, “You stay away from me, you hear me Rogers, you stay away, I don’t want to see you or hear from you again, ever. Or I promise you, I will finish that job I started on your head in Siberia.” 

With that Tony stormed on out of the compound leaving a stunned Steve in his wake. 

Unsure of what to say James followed after him only pausing when he heard Steve call his name, his nickname. 

“I promised Miss Potts I’d see him safely to the tower.” James said.

“So you’ll be back after?” 

James didn’t meet Steve’s eyes, didn’t want to see the hopeful, pleading look within them. “I’ll call.” He said and turned away before Steve’s shoulders could slump and the Captain could begin to argue or plead with him. 

He found Tony waiting in the car, the engine already running, “You are you’re alright to drive, Doll?” James asked, tossing his backpack which contained a few changes of clothes a couple of knives, guns, and bullets, into the boot. 

Tony flashed him a tooth grin, “Get ready for the ride of your life.”


	6. Chapter 6

New York was very different to how James remembered it, but he had expected that, it had been seventy years since he had last been in the city, it was bound to have changed a great deal in that time. Hell, he could recall the building of the Empire State! Back then Sky scrapers had been few and just dotted about Manhattan Island, now they towered everywhere, standing alongside the Empire State which he was glad to see had survived the test of time. 

But it wasn’t just the buildings which had changed, or the huge TV screens and neon signs everywhere. Even back in his day New York had been a busy and bustling metropolis, it was always said that New York was the city that never slept, because it never did, there was always somewhere open, someone awake in the city at any hour of the night and day, even in the depression. 

Now, as he and Tony drove to Stark Tower, the streets and the roads were like a ghost town. Cars were abandoned on the side of the road where they had been moved out of the way after their drivers had turned to ash, many of them smashed up as other cars had ploughed into them, offices and shops were closed, windows smashed in and doors hanging off the hinges, some buildings were even burned out from where rioters and looters had attacked. News Papers blew in the wind along with missing persons posters, which littered every corner, were stuck to lamp post, walls, the windows that were still intact. 

The few people who were on the streets were not acting like the usual New Yorkers, who moved with determined speed, getting from A to B as fast as they could, these people moved like zombies, shuffling along, their shoulders hunched, heads down, and faces shadowed. Others sat on the roadside drinking from bottles, not even bothering to hide them as they tried to drown their sorrows. 

The city was almost silent, almost. There was the noise of the rioters and looters elsewhere, their noise being carried on the wind and echoing through the deserted streets. 

“This is going to take some cleaning up.” Tony said as they approached Stark Tower, which had not completely escaped the rioters fury, graffiti, broken windows, and damage to the paving slabs greeted them, but by the looks of it the damage was external, the rioters not having been able to get any further into the building, which Friday had locked up tight. 

“Got a plan?” James asked looking around at the broken cars and empty eyed people as the pulled into a side street and went down past a barrier into the car park. 

“Working on it.”

*****

Tony did in fact have a plan, he and Pepper, had spoken every night on the phone and kept in contact via text too, they had worked out a way to keep the company running and extend aid throughout the country starting with New York. 

Before he faced the press, Tony was plastered in make-up by his stylist who had survived the snap as it was being called, and dressed in his new suit. Nothing could disguise his dramatic weight loss, but the tailoring helped to hide how skinny he was and the make-up made him look less haggard. 

The media who came to the press conference were less than half than what usually came to get news from Pepper and Tony, so many had been taken in the snap that their numbers had dwindled considerably and with editors having also been taken away no one new had yet been assigned to take over the positions of others. 

Pepper opened the press conference and laid out the plans Stark Industries had agreed upon with the remaining members of the board. 

“We are ensuring the continued employment of all our surviving staff and will be making available the pensions of our lost employees to their next of kin, either in a lump sum, which could take several months to come through, or in deposits over a period of months or years. 

We are endeavouring to meet the deadlines of our current contracts, the new Stark Phone, Stark Tablet, and StarkBook, will be released over the coming weeks, Stark Medical Tech will be unveiling our prosthesis and medical equipment in the next few months. 

As we are now, grieving the loss of so many of our employees, we are also looking into ways to ensure that our remaining employees and their dependants have a stable income, therefore, Stark Industries is recruiting staff in a variety of positions, from Admin staff, to Science, to engineers. 

For the first time ever, we will be taking on Undergrad students in our R&D and IT departments, with full training on the job and full salary. We will also be accepting Undergrad students in our legal and financial departments, again to be given full training and salary. 

Administrative jobs will vary, and we will offer interviews for not only those with degrees, but also those with backgrounds in retail management, supervisory experience, and secretarial experience.

I will now hand over to Tony Stark and let him explain what the Maria Stark Foundation will be doing during this time.” 

There was applause from some of the members of the press and some spectators who’d come to watch before Stark Towers, but all fell silent as Tony took Pepper’s place on the podium. 

Tony tried to find his usual smirk, his confident swagger, tried to meet the cameras without having to avert his eyes, but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t find that devil may care attitude that had always gotten him through this in the past. He just didn’t have any of that smart-ass snark left in him, he was clinging onto his sanity and will to live by a thread and not even the best made suit and all the make-up in the world could hide it. 

“Alright, first things first. Food, as I understand it, the remaining owners and managers of supermarkets are working on pooling their resources and hope to be back in business in the coming weeks and I believe are or will be recruiting drivers to deliver produce.”

“Anyone with an HGV Licence and those with smaller delivery vans.” One of the reporters called out. 

“Thank you.” Tony said, “Until that is up and running and the supermarkets are open again, the Maria Stark foundation will be purchasing essential items in bulk and will be making food packages and hygiene essentials available at Stark Shelters throughout New York from tomorrow evening, and throughout the state by the end of the week and the rest of the Shelters in the country by mid-next week. 

The Iron Legion will be deployed to assist delivery, however, if you have a van, or a large vehicle and are able to do so, please register with the nearest Shelter and assist us getting these items to where they are needed, you will be reimbursed for petrol. 

As for the Shelters, we are aware that power has gone out in various places throughout the City and the country, SI and myself are speaking with the Government over this issue and will be seeking to find a way to get the power restored as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Shelters will welcome those who are without power, and pets, provided they are house trained and kept with family members, will be welcomed.” Tony paused and managed a crooked smile, “Litter trays and soft play areas will be provided for cats.” 

A small ripple of laughter ran through the crowd as they took down the details and snapped photos.

“Finally, to the rioters and looters.” Tony said, his expression hardening, “This is your one and only warning. Go Home Now. What you are doing is helping no one, we have all lost someone we love, someone we care for, this, your actions, is not going to bring them back, you are just making life harder for others and it ends today. 

If you go home now you may well get away with what you have done instead of facing charges, but if you do not, then I will stop you. Iron Man will be patrolling New York from tonight, if you are causing damage, stealing, or simply being an asshole, then you will face me.” Tony let out a breath and nodded to the cameras and stepped down, ignoring the many questions that were screamed out at him about where he’d been, what had happened to him, how he’d gotten back to earth, if he was injured, if he was well. 

“Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen.” Pepper said giving a beaming smile to the press, thus ending the conference, and she and Tony headed back into the building. 

James was standing by the doors, he’d watched the whole thing silently from the shadows. He had to admit he was impressed with plans the two had made, but was also concerned over Tony’s intentions to patrol New York, something that Pepper was vocalising as they got into the lift. 

“You are in not fit state to go out in the suit, Tony, hell, you gave the arc to Rogers didn’t you?”

“One of them.” Tony said rubbing at his temples and smearing the make-up onto his fingers, he wrinkled his nose at it and would have wiped it on his suit had Pepper not slapped his hand and shoved a tissue into them.

“You are worse than a toddler for wiping your hands on your clothes.” She scolded.

“Sorry Mother.” Tony yelped as a stiletto heel stomped on his foot, “Christ, you and the Smurf should get together, you are as sadistic as each-other. You could be Murder-Wives!” 

Pepper shot Tony a withering look which he just grinned at, were it not for the tension about his eyes and the fact he looked ready to fall over at any moment, one would have thought Tony was back to his old self, making such comments. 

“I won’t be battling super-villains, Pep.” He said, heading for the couch and flopping down upon it, putting his feet up on the coffee table and immediately had his ankles kicked for it by the resident Mother-Hen. “It’ll be a bunch of yobs throwing their fists around, which, considering I’ll be in armour, will be a bad idea for them.” 

“You still shouldn’t be going out in the armour at all.” Pepper said, looking Tony over, “You are skin and bone, honey, a puff of wind could blow you away.”

“I’m fine.” Tony grumbled, “And this has got to be taken care of, Pep. The Cops are fucking useless right now, more so than normal, they aren’t going to stop it and we aren’t going to have people coming to apply for jobs when they are too scared to leave their homes because of these morons.” 

“The Wrecking Crew are among them.” Pepper said, “Not all the group survived the snap, but some did and they will seek you out personally now that you’ve gone and threatened them.”

Tony glared, “More fool them, because I am done playing nice.”

Pepper sighed, she looked unhappy but resigned, as if she knew that there would be no changing Tony’s mind and James figured there wasn’t, that Tony would do this regardless of what others said to him, which meant that he had only one option available to him.

“I’ll go with you.” 

Tony and Pepper stopped arguing and looked to James who was perched on the edge of the armchair across from them. Tony had made him welcome in the tower, insisting he come in and take a room, by which he meant an entire floor. It seemed that prior to moving into the compound the Avengers had all been given their own floors in the tower, that had been luxury apartments. While barren now of anything but basic furniture, it was still the biggest apartment James had ever been in and that included his quarters in Wakanda. How Steve could have accepted this, accepted all that Tony had done for him and given him and stilled kept lying to him, James didn’t know. 

He felt uncomfortable accepting anything from Tony, he felt like he was taking advantage of him, especially when he owed the Omega so much. The problem was there was little he could do to try and make up the debt he owed him, taking care of Tony, at least ensuring he ate and drank was the least he could do, and offering his protective services as the former Winter Soldier. 

He wasn’t sure who this “Wrecking Crew” were, but he was confident that he could give them all an ass kicking and make sure that Tony didn’t injure himself or set back his recovery. He might even get him into bed at a decent hour!

“I don’t need a baby sitter.” Tony grumbled while Pepper looked relieved.

“Thought I was a Doberman.” James shot back with a wry grin. 

“You’re an asshole is what you are!”

“Takes one to know one, Stark.”

“Bite me, Snowflake.”

“Not likely, I don’t know where you’ve been!” 

A rather indelicate snort had the two men turning to Pepper whose face was flushed as she tried to muffle her laughter at their bantering, “Clearly you are in good hands.” She said to Tony who glared at her.

“Traitor!” He cried dramatically, “You wound me, you stab in in the heart with your deadly heels!”

Pepper sniffed, “If you want to go out to play tonight, the you will follow my rules and have your minder with you.”

James bite back a grin at Pepper addressing Tony as if he were a misbehaving child, to which Tony leered at her, “Or what?” 

Pepper’s smile was a thing of pure evil and her following threat struck terror into Tony’s heart, “Or, I will confiscate that coffee order you had Friday make and get her to lockdown all coffee machines for the next month.”

“So!” Tony turned to James with an enthusiastic smile, “Patrol tonight then?”


	7. Chapter 7

Before the evening patrol, before anything else, Tony had to go to his lab where his Bots were waiting for him, impatiently. Friday had informed them of their creators return to earth and they had been driving her insane ever since. Running around in circles, firing off the fire extinguisher, mixing together smoothies with that out of date and thoroughly toxic contents of the fridge, and just generally making a glorious mess everywhere. 

They greeted Tony and James, at the door to the workshop with a shower of fire extinguisher foam, a proffered smoothie that seemed to expanding of its own accord as spilled over the sides of the metal cup that U was holding out. All three bots beeped and trilled excitedly, nudging each-other out of the way to try to get to Tony first. 

“Okay you three back up, let us breathe.” Tony said shooing them back but not without patting all of them on the touch sensitive parts of their chassis. The bots beeped happily, and spun in circles, U spilled more of the revolting smoothie that Tony would swear hissed and began to corrode the lab floor. 

“I thought you three were meant to be on house maintenance.” Tony scolded them, “Look at this place, it’s a tip, Friday, make a note, they are all grounded.”

“Noted boss.”

A metal clanging caught Tony’s attention and he whipped round to see Butterfingers, always the most curious of his bots, pawing at James, or rather at his metal arm. The curious bot had his claw wrapped about James’s wrist and was gently turning it back and forth experimentally, while James looked on in bemusement.

“Oh hell no!” Tony cried, “Butterfingers, cease and desist this instant. I have house trained you better than this. We do not grab strangers and start pawing at their limbs, even when said limbs are metal.” The Bot reluctantly let go of James’s arm and whirred, turning and looking at Tony before looking back at the arm. Seeing their sibling so engrossed, U and Dumm-E joined him, clicking, beeping, and whirring as they looked over James, then looked back to Tony as if asking him to explain. 

“Yeah, he’s human like me.” Tony said to them, patting Butterfingers who beeped in pleasure, “He’s not a robot, he just has a cool robot arm, similar to you guys, but smarter.” 

“Oh that’s unfair.” James protested, the bots all seemed very smart to him, maybe not as smart as Friday, but they didn’t seem like he’d expect robots to be. They weren’t just efficient functional machines doing what they were told, these were more like pets, misbehaving pets. “You built these guys?” He asked reaching out with his metal hand which Dumm-E instantly grabbed and began to shake his hand.

“Rhodey taught him that.” Tony said rolling his eyes, “And yes, I built these misfits, Dumm-E when I was seventeen, Butterfingers when I was eighteen, and U when I was nineteen. They are all learning AI’s, more or less, but not as advanced or sophisticated as Friday.” Or Jarvis, but Tony couldn’t bring himself to speak of Jarvis, he was in enough pain over Peter without thinking about his beloved J. 

James grinned as Dumm-E released his hand and then held up his claw with an expectant beep.

“He wants a high five.” Tony said, sounding proud, “I taught him and his brothers that.” He snickered as James high fived all of them and submitted to being poked, prodded, and examined by the bots until they were satisfied that he was not some kind of synthetic kin of theirs and just had a robotic arm. 

“Now, you lot look lively, we need to clean this hell hole up, possibly starting with nuking the fridge and tossing a grenade down the sink.” Said sink was covered in god only knew what and the damn stuff was growing, spreading mould up onto the work surface. 

“Some bleach and elbow grease will get this lot sorted.” James said rolling up his sleeves, “You guys wanna help?” 

Tony watched in utter amazement as James, directed by Friday, got the bleach, rubber gloves, and dish rags from the storage closet and began to clean up the mess the bots had made, instructing them on what to do and how to do it as they went. The bots, always keen for a new game or a chance to “Help” joined in, happily scrubbing up mould and fire extinguisher foam, even going to get a mop and bucket to clean with floor. This did get rather complicated at Butterfingers and U got into a fight over who was going to mop and who would hold the bucket, the water was then spilled on the floor creating more mess which required all three to have mops to clean it up with. 

Tony watched the quartet for a while before going to his safe and pressing his palm against the scanner and leaned in so that a retinal scan could be taken before he put in a combination, opening the safe and took out an arc reactor complete with nano-tech to work on and get ready for the patrol and once that was done, looked over the Iron legion and checked Friday’s uplink to the drones to make them ready for deployment.

*****

James spent a most enjoyable day in the workshop with Tony. While Tony worked on his project, James cleaned up the lab, not just the mess the bots had made but also dusting and polishing, he would have swept, but a couple of roomba’s with blue eye stalks was sent out from their charging stations, calling out “Exterminate.” As they went. 

“I’m afraid Boss is a fan of Doctor Who and while bored a couple of years ago, decided to upgrade the roombas into daleks.” Friday explained sounding exasperated, something that grew worse when the bots began to chase the dalek roombas about the lab. 

At noon a lunch was delivered to them by one of Pepper Potts’ assistance. A hearty vegetable soup and whole grain rolls followed by fruit salad. Tony complained loudly and whined for pizza, but at it anyway, not wanting to risk having his coffee source cut off. 

Another meal was brought to the penthouse in the evening before they were to go on patrol. Baked potatoes, cold meat, and salad. There were bowls of rice pudding for desert which Tony demurred, his appetite was still recovering and the main course had filled him, but he promised to eat it when they returned from patrol. 

James suited up in the same Kevlar he’d worn for the battle in Wakanda, strapping on his knives and handguns, and shouldering his M249 SAW, he stepped out, putting his face mask on and met with Tony in the common room. 

Tony looked him over appreciatively and handed him Ear piece and Com unit to wear. “Friday is linked in with it so we can keep in touch.” He said, “I figured I’d fly overhead and scour the whole City while you cover on foot.”

“Sounds good to me.” James agreed fitting the Com unit. “Just promise me that if you find any trouble you’ll come and get me before getting involved.”

Tony held up three fingers in a mocking salute, “Scouts honour.”

James scoffed, “If you were a boy scout then I was Girl Guide!” 

“Betcha looked cute with pig tails and braces!” Tony teased back and actually dared to give James’ hair a playful swipe, “When we get back we can braid it if you want, and paint each-others nails!”

“And give each-other facials no doubt.” James snorted. 

“You got it Frosty.” Tony tipped him another salute and then tapped the arc reactor on his chest, the suit moulded over him, covering his body in sleek armour, the Billionaire walked out onto the landing pad and then blasted off into the sky. 

James watched admiringly as the sleek silhouette of Iron Man flew across the skyline, “Miss Friday?” He asked the AI tapping the ear pierce.

“Yes Sergeant?”

“Where is Tony heading, and it’s just James, or Barnes.”

“The boss is heading towards Central Park.” Friday replied, “And you need not give me a title either, though I thank you for the courtesy.”

“Well, me Ma did try and raise me with manners, Ma’am, she’d clip me around the ear if I addressed you by your given name without permission.” James said, going to the lift which Friday opened for him.

“A most formidable lady.” The AI mused, taking the lift down to the ground floor.

“Aye, she was.” James agreed, and wouldn’t she have had a thing or two to say to Stevie about his behaviour? Then again, Sarah Rogers wouldn’t have been too impressed with her Son, both would have given Steve a thick ear for his behaviour towards Tony. While their Mothers had been considered lenient by societies standards of child discipline back in the twenties, they had both done their best to ensure that James and Steve grew up good moral values and respect for others, and neither woman had hesitated to give their Sons a slap across the backside or a clip around the ear when they’d been really pushing their luck. Considering the fact that caning children was very much a standard practise of the time period, James and Steve were lucky that their parents never employed such method, many of the children they went to school with were given lashes when they misbehaved, hell, even the teachers caned the children. 

James got the cane on more than one occasion for pulling pranks and fighting, the fights were generally because of Steve and his inability to keep his mouth shut or his nose out of trouble. 

James’ memories might not be fully complete but he could remember countless fights in the playground and back alleys, all started by Steve and his big mouth. That self-righteous chip on his shoulder making him practically seek out trouble and turn confrontations violent when half the time, he could have just walked away or kept his mouth shut. 

Before the serum, James could never leave Steve to get into the fights, he always feared that if he did then Steve would get himself killed. Not a week would go by without some kind brawl taking place and more often than not James would be nursing sore knuckles while Steve had a black eye, bruised ribs, a split lip, and a bloody nose. Some people had said that James should just leave him to it, let Steve get a good kicking as maybe a broken bone or three would finally teach him some humility and knock some sense into his skull. 

Maybe if he had things would have been different, maybe. But James never did, when he went to war he half feared that Steve would get himself into a fight he couldn’t get out of and would get himself either killed or maimed. 

Instead the little brat had gone and gotten himself turned into Captain America, the scrappy, entitled brat finally had a body size to match his ego and Steve had revelled in it. Well, James could begrudge him that, having spent most of his childhood sick, weak, and in pain, Steve did have a right to enjoy good health. He just wished that Steve had learned humility along the way, that finally getting what he’d wanted would have gotten that chip off his shoulder. 

Instead, Steve was still that self-righteous runt, demanding to have everything his own way, jumping into situations fist first, the only thing that was different was that his body could now endure it. 

In some ways James supposed Tony was similar, he was jumping into this vigilante roll, patrolling the streets, but he wasn’t actively picking a fight with a couple of idiots bad mouthing people, he was trying to prevent further vandalism and thefts from happening throughout the city. Was trying to restore order to the chaos and protect the people who were trying to put their lives back together. 

For the first hour James did nothing but walk the streets silently, it seemed that the threat of Iron Man had put pay to a lot of the idiots who had been causing trouble and they had either gone home or found somewhere to crash instead of continuing their crime spree. Then James got a call from Tony who landed in front of him moments after speaking. 

“Got a group of morons ripping off a liquor store and smashing up the street.” The Omega Billionaire said, “Fancy it?” He held out a gauntlet to James looking like he was offering him a dance. 

Snorting, James accepted the hand and stood on the boots with Tony’s arms wrapped around him as they took off into the sky.


	8. Chapter 8

Avenger’s Compound. 

The building seemed doubly as quiet with Tony and Bucky having departed for New York. Carol, Nebula, and Rocket were pretty much living in the ship, Bruce had left for parts unknown, leaving just Steve with Natasha and Rhodey. 

Who were avoiding him. 

Natasha was looking for Clint, which Steve couldn’t blame her for doing. The Beta had lost his entire family, all three children and his wife to the snap, God knows what he was feeling or thinking, Natasha was afraid that he would end up hurting himself, or God forbid, taking his own life as many had done since the snap, a good portion of those who’d died as a result of half the population turning to ash, had been suicides. 

People had seen their whole families disappear before their eyes and they simply hadn’t been able to cope with it, finding themselves preferring the thought of being dead than trying to live on without their loved ones. 

Had Bucky also been taken then Steve might well have considered it himself, especially now that they knew the Snap couldn’t be reversed. 

It would be easier not to give up if Bucky hadn’t left with Tony, Steve might have been able to figure out what he was supposed to do now, where he was meant to go from here. Without Bucky he felt bereft again, just as he had when Bucky had fallen from the train, when he’d disappeared after their fight over the Potomac, and when he’d gone back into cryo in Wakanda. Thinking about it, Steve ought to be used to being left behind, to being the last one standing, yet it still hurt just as much as it had seventy years before when Bucky had fallen from the train. 

With nothing much to do, or really nothing he could do, Steve threw himself into an exercise routine, going for a run around the base, then he hit the weights and the punching bags in the gym. Doing this he managed waste a good few hours and by the time he was done he was starving. Cooking himself a decent meal and eating wasted a bit more time, as did cleaning up, he also took the opportunity to check the fridge and the cupboards, they were starting to run low on stores. Thor had been comfort eating before he’d gone to Norway and that had seen to a large dent in the food, he and Natasha would have to place an Online order soon, assuming that they could still get deliveries, if not, then they’d have to go to a supermarket. 

Steve wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like supermarkets. They were too big, too loud, too flashy. With their music playing at a deafening level, the voice over the speakers booming out orders for staff to go to this area or that area, calling certain customers to customer service to deal with this or that. 

The staff were always trying to push items, there were so many brands that he never knew what to take, and did people really need forty different types of cereal?

Also people were rude in there, stopping dead in the middle of aisles to talk to each-other or on their phones, pushing and shoving, complaining about ques, complaining when the self-service machines didn’t work. 

There would always be children and Pups running around, or screaming with hunger, over-tiredness, or just having temper tantrums, which their parents seemed to ignore rather than deal with. No Pup or child in his day would be allowed to scream at the top of their lungs without getting a good hiding to teach them better. 

It was so much easier back in his time, when there had been small grocery stores, where you went in and asked the owner for the products and he or she would get them for you. Everyone was polite, the Pups and children accompanying their Mother would know to be silent unless spoken to, they wouldn’t whine and demand sweets and other treats, the teenagers weren’t all sulky foul-mouthed brats who resented everyone and everything just because they felt like they deserved to take their hormones out on everyone. 

There also wasn’t the constant flashing of camera phones, people wanting to take Selfies with Steve or pictures of him, intruding on his privacy. Honestly, there was no concept of privacy today. 

He could recall Tony complaining about that once or twice, how he couldn’t even go and buy a few donuts without it becoming plastered all over social media and sparking debates on whether his diet was healthy or not, and questions over his weight and physique. 

Really, Tony’s diet was atrocious. It generally consisted of coffee, smoothies made from questionable if not down right toxic ingredients by the three machines he kept in his lab, and an assortment of junk food. 

Unless Pepper or Rhodey practically force fed him a decent meal, then Tony wouldn’t consume anything but liquids and a few burgers or pizzas. 

When they had been living together Steve had taken it upon himself to insist that Tony take better care of himself. After all, if he wanted to be on the Avengers he needed to be in the best shape possible and a person couldn’t do that unless they were eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise. 

Tony had whined like a petulant child over having to have actual meals which dragged him away from whatever he was doing in the lab, and flat out refused to train with Steve after one attempt. 

He blamed the fact he had a heart condition and the start of arthritis in several joints for the reason he couldn’t manage the runs, Steve had even gone at half speed to compensate for him, and Steve knew he didn’t have a heart condition, Tony had had the Arc reactor removed after that trouble with Killian and AIM, so it was just Tony being childish and not wanting to do as he was told even though it would help him. 

Thinking about Tony also reminded Steve of the Stark Industries press conference and he wanted to know what Tony and his company were planning on doing. 

It didn’t take him long to find the news, Tony’s miraculous return from space had become major international news, with papers, magazines, and news blogs picking up with story all across the world. The fact that Tony was alive seemed to sparking hope in people, or at least that was what several authors of these articles wrote. His and SI’s pledges to the New York and the rest of the state only added to that. 

Steve couldn’t fault them for offering people work and for ensuring that shelters were equipped to help the homeless and desperate, but he wished Tony hadn’t decided to make everything about himself again, publicly declaring that He would be patrolling the streets to keep the looters and rioters at bay, and that he was deploying the Iron Legion. 

As far as Steve had been aware Tony he destroyed the legion after Ultron, apparently he’d been mistaken. He didn’t like the thought of Tony having so much control, so much power at his disposal, especially when Bucky was along in the same City as him without Steve to keep him safe. 

If Steve didn’t know Tony better, then he would think that Tony was becoming genuinely fond of Bucky, that he actually cared about him, but Steve did know better, he knew how manipulative Tony could be, how he would use any means at his disposal to get what he wanted, even going so far as to use his body as the proverbial carrot to dangle. 

The thought of Tony manipulating Bucky like that made Steve sick to his stomach. Bucky was so fragile right now, he needed people around him that cared about him, no someone who would use him for their own ends. 

Really, Steve needed to get Bucky away from Tony, get him back to the compound, or, if Bucky would prefer, they could get a place together, maybe in Brooklyn. It wasn’t as if there was a shortage of apartments now, half the City was empty after all. 

Steve continued read articles, growing more concerned when reports showed that the Winter Soldier had been seen fighting alongside Iron Man, they had dealt with several groups of looters and a number of rioters, subduing them and dropping them off at the closest police stations for the authorities to deal with from there. 

There was even a photo of Bucky pressed flush against the armour, his arms about Tony and his was gazing at the Iron Man pilot, whose face plate was up showing Tony was an exhilarated flush on his face and a grin as he gazed down at Bucky. 

Steve did not like the way the two were gazing at each-other, Bucky was becoming too attached to Tony, was probably thinking of him as a friend, or as an Omega who needed Bucky’s protection as an Alpha. Bucky had always had a soft spot for Omegas, especially dark haired doe eyed Omegas with gleaming smiles beguiling ways. With his mind and self-will so fragile right now, he would be putty in Tony’s hands, and Tony being Tony just wouldn’t think twice about using him for his pleasure and then discarding him once he got bored. 

Bucky deserved better, he deserved an Omega who wasn’t spoiled, who wasn’t as vain and selfish as Tony, who acted their age and not like a perpetual adolescent. Tony couldn’t make Bucky happy he was too self-absorbed, too demanding, too destructive. He would end up hurting Bucky, ruining what might be the only chance Steve had of getting his friend completely back to his old self.

With his mind made up Steve went down to the garage and got his bike, heading for New York, and Bucky.

*****

New York.

Delivering food packages was not something the Winter Soldier had ever done before, but James had done so, back in the depression. There had been quite a few elderly in the neighbourhood he’d grown up in and they had struggled to get about, he had done grocery shopping for them quite often, earning himself a few coins he could spend on sweets and comics, as well as the satisfaction of doing some good. 

Steve hadn’t been well enough to help most of time, and a lot of the elderly had looked down on him, having come from the Victorian era where having a sickly or deformed child was seen as shame upon the family, something to be ashamed of and kept hidden from view. 

Steve honestly didn’t help matters, often being so sulky that people didn’t take to him as they might have otherwise. A perpetual scowl and pinched lips did not endear people the way a smile did. 

There were certainly plenty of smiles from the people he and Tony brought deliveries to in the shelters, and with the media coverage their actions were getting, they were starting to amass volunteer drivers willing to get food and other essentials from A to B. 

While James was enjoying patrolling the streets with Tony, stopping the rioters and the looters, he was enjoying helping people this way even more. Seeing the genuine gratitude on their faces, the delight in children and Pup’s eyes when they were handed chocolate bars, bought and paid for by Tony himself, had a pleasant warmth spreading through his stomach. 

Tony was looking brighter as well. He had more life about him, there was a shine in his eyes that being around people, helping them and seeing positives results had put there. It was a great improvement to the half dead look he’d been wearing after coming back from space. 

He was smiling a lot more too, and was more animated, seeming to gesture wildly as he spoke, as if he couldn’t properly explain something without moving his hands about. 

Something he did as explained how a group of teachers in the City from various schools had gotten together and decided to open a school located in the heart of the city and were encouraging the remaining parents/guardians of the remaining Pups and Children to bring them to the school, regardless of what grade they had been in or what school they had previously been attending. Both so they could continue their education, and also to give them something to do. Pups and Children might time off school, but without activities they quickly became bored and their parents/guardians would be struggling to keep them occupied. 

“Social services are getting involved. They want to get a full list of all Pups and Children and determine if they have a remaining parent or guardian and if not, then to establish guardians as soon as possible.” 

“That’s good.” James agreed, “It’ll help keep them out of trouble too.” Several of the rioters they had dealt with had been adolescent children and pups who’d lost both parents/guardians and simply had no one to care for them anymore. Alone, frightened, and understandably angry they were lashing out. These rioters they hadn’t taken to the police but to the shelters so they could get the care they needed. 

There was a young Omega boy that Tony made a priority to check on, someone called Harley, whom he had Friday look into and was relieved to find that not only had Harley survived the snap, so had his Mother and Sister. 

James chose not to push for information on Harley, he’d kept his distance while Tony had spoken with the teenage Pup, giving the Omega some privacy and had spent time with the Bots. 

He was becoming very fond of them, enjoyed playing catch and chase with them about the lab, found them hilarious when they messed things up and started squabbling. Tony complained about them, scolded them, but he would do it with a twinkle in his eyes, not meaning a single word, which the bots seemed to know. 

“Are we going out tonight?” James asked Tony, earning a grin from the Omega,

“Are you asking me out on a date, Sergeant?” Tony made a show of batting his eyes at him and placing a fluttering hand over his heart and began to feign a southern drawl, “Why Sergeant I don’t know what to say, its all so sudden, why I haven’t gotten my hair and nails done or a single thing to wear!”

James snorted and rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry doll, I wasn’t planning on taking you to a barn dance or anything,” He looked him over, “You don’t look the type to go to a barn dance anyway. More the sort of Omega I’d find in speak easy, knocking back bootleg liquor and making eyes at all the Alphas, wrapping them right around your little finger and disappointing all of them when you choose to go home alone.”

Tony grinned and leaned forward over the counter, “Now why would such an Omega choose to go home alone when such a handsome Alpha was available?” James huffed and felt his cheeks heat a little, no one had called him handsome in a very long time, “Oh,” Tony said a smugness in his Tony that had James narrowing his eyes, “I get you,” 

“Get me?” James asked cautiously, his eyes following Tony as he moved around the counter and came before him, pointing his fingers at him and tapping him on the chest.

“You like to play hard to get.” 

Of all the things Tony could have said this was not what he would have expected, and the self-satisfied smirk on Tony’s face had him just having to play along. 

“So sure of that are you?” he asked and in a move far too fast for Tony to counter he had the Omega pinned against the counter, his hands either side of Tony, keeping him blocked in but not physically pinning him. He smirked at Tony, summoning his memories of the cocky, smart mouthed, charmer he had been before going to war. “Now, what makes you think I’d play hard to get Doll?” He asked, in his deepest Brooklyn drawl, “Maybe I’m the kind of Alpha who see’s what he wants and goes for it, just shoves all the competition to one side and sweeps the Omega he wants of his feet.”

Tony raised his chin, “Maybe the Omega doesn’t want to be swept off his feet, maybe he prefers a chase, maybe he wants the Alpha to prove himself and won’t simply go to his knees for one display of masculinity.” 

James chuckled, enjoying the play, “Quite the tease you’d be, I’m sure. Keeping the Alpha on his toes, always keeping just out of reach, drawing him in and then dancing away, making him run after you.”

“That is the definition of a chase isn’t it?” Tony said with a shrug, then he leaned in, “It’d take a very special Alpha to catch me though, he’d have to be resourceful, intelligent, and diligent. I would not be impressed just by a show of strength, I would be more impressed by him showing his wits and cunning as he leaned to anticipate me, and his endurance for continuing the chase as long as it may last.”

James hummed, lifting his flesh hand and stroked a lock of Tony’s hair back from his face, “And then you would be caught, the chase would be over.”

“And finally I would submit to you.” Tony whispered staring James directly in the eyes, “And I wouldn’t disappoint, I would make it worth the chase.”

“I’m sure you would.” James breathed. They were inches apart, it would be only natural for them to kiss now however neither of them moved, they hardly breathed, just remained standing and staring at each-other until a voice shouted at them, making them spring apart. 

“What the hell?”


	9. Chapter 9

Steve was pleasantly surprised when he wasn’t stopped from entering Stark Tower, but with so many people coming and going, to and from interviews, or starting their first day and being shown around the building they would be working in, security wasn’t as tight as it normally would have been. 

Had Happy Hogan been there then he would have spitting glass over the laxity, but he was gone, turned to ash like so many others. 

Steve had never really gotten to know Happy, but he knew he was a good man, he’d deserved better than to be wiped out of existence by a deranged alien with delusions of Godhood. As had Sam, and Wanda, T’Challa, Shuri, and so many others. 

It had been depressing to drive through New York and see the posters of the missing, to see the memorial flowers and wooden crosses marking the places people had died, either by turning to ash or because others had turned to ash and inadvertently caused their deaths. 

The looting and rioting was thankfully stopping, but the burned out buildings, shattered windows, and graffiti remained. It would take months if not years to undo all the damage and Steve wasn’t sure he knew where to begin. 

Well, he did, he knew that the first step he had to make was to get Bucky back, which was why he was at the tower. 

The code that took the lift up to the penthouse was still the same and Steve waited as the lift climbed up the sky scrapped and finally reached the penthouse floor, opening up on what had been common room. It hadn’t changed much since he’d last been there, Tony had repaired the damage done by Ultron and their fight but he’d kept the décor pretty much the same. 

If Steve were to try very hard he’d be able to see them lounging on the sofa, all of them, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Tony, and himself. Talking about missions, watching movies, eating dinner. It had been a good time, their golden age, before everything had started to fall apart. 

Steve looked away blinking back the burn of tears that stung his eyes. Thinking of those times wouldn’t help him, he couldn’t get them back no matter how much he might like to. 

The sound of voices and laughter drew his attention and Steve followed the sound, making his way towards the kitchen where he found Bucky and Tony looking like they were seconds away from kissing!

“What the hell?” 

The two sprang apart looking like a pair of cats who’d had water dumped on them, flustered and annoyed they both looked up seeing who had disturbed them for the first time. 

“Rogers.” Tony sighed, “Friday, what the hell?” he cried looking towards a camera. 

“Sorry Boss.” The AI apologised. 

“Steve what are you doing here?” Bucky asked sounding frustrated.

“I came to get you.” Steve said stepping forward and shot a glare at Tony, “And not a moment too soon, it seems.” Tony returned the glare in kind and straightened to his full if rather unimpressive height, that had always been one of the things Steve could lord over Tony, their height difference. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” He shot back.

Steve scoffed, not at all fooled by Tony’s playing dumb or his show of pride, God knows the Omega always had too much pride, and it always led to his downfall and the suffering of others, Sokovia being the worst. 

“You know what it means Stark.” Steve growled getting closer to Tony, forcing the Omega to look up at him to maintain eye contact, “And Bucky has been through enough without you….whoring yourself.”

“Now wait a damn minute!” Bucky cried in protest the same time as Tony shouted,

“How dare you?” 

Steve turned and gave Bucky a reassuring smile, “Its not your fault, Buck, you didn’t know, its okay, I’m here now, you don’t have to worry about him flinging himself at you anymore.”

“I wasn’t!” Tony shouted, he shoved at Steve managing to push the Alpha away a few steps before Steve righted himself, “We were just talking, joking, maybe having a little flirtation, I was hardly giving him a fucking strip tease, Rogers,” Tony’s face twisted into an ugly sneer as he continued, “And even if I were, it wouldn’t be any of your business.”

“Oh it is my business.” Steve snarled, Tony’s smirk and attitude in general pushing all his buttons as they always did, “Anything to do with Bucky is my business, and I am not having a self-centred little slut like you start using him for your twisted games.” 

“That’s enough!” Bucky shouted, he moved, placing himself between Tony and Steve, trying to block them from each-other, “Steve, Tony wasn’t doing anything wrong, I don’t know what you think you saw but he wasn’t seducing me or anything.”

Steve gave Bucky a sympathetic and pitying look, “You don’t know him, Buck, he’s not…. He’s not a good person for you to be around, he’ll hurt you, I’m sure this all seemed like innocent flirtation to you, but to him,”

“Don’t you talk about me as if I’m not here!” Tony protested angrily, but Steve ignored him reaching out and placing his hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

“You need to come back to the compound with me, it isn’t good for you to be here, its confusing you, and Tony is using that to his advantage, manipulating you for his own ends..” Steve broke off as Bucky roughly shook his hand from his shoulder and pushed him away, glaring at him. 

“Do you think I am a child?” He snapped, “Do you think I am stupid? Hydra might have scrambled my brains but they didn’t damage them, I can still think clearly, far clearer than you can it seems.” 

“Bucky!”

“Christ sakes that’s not my name!” Bucky shouted alarming Steve even more, “My name is James.” He said in a calmer tone, but it was still hard and cold, so unlike Bucky and the man’s words did nothing to ease Steve’s fears. 

“Bucky Barnes died seventy years ago when he fell off a damn train. He died in the snow and then the Asset, the Winter soldier was born, and when the soldier died, I crawled out of the ashes and my name is James.”

Steve stared at Bucky, hardly able to believed what he was hearing, Bucky had never liked his first name, had never answered to it even when his Mother had called him by it, he’d only ever answered to Bucky and now he was rejecting the name? No, no, this was Tony’s doing. 

Steve turned a scathing look at Tony who’d moved from behind Bucky, “You did this.” He accused the Omega,

“What?” Tony threw a perplexed look at Bucky, “I haven’t done shit…” He didn’t get any further as Steve grabbed him by the upper arms lifting him off the floor by a few inches and slammed him back into the wall, pinning him there. 

“What did you do?” He roared at Tony who struggling against him, fear filling his dark eyes. 

“Let go of him!”, Steve was suddenly flung away from Tony and pain exploded in his jaw, making his vision black out for a second as he crashed to the floor. Shaking his head he blinked, to clear his vision and saw the suit closing around Tony and a moment later the armour powered up and flew off out of the penthouse. 

*****

Tony stared at Steve incredulous, was the man actually accusing him of attempting to seduce James? It sure seemed that way, and while Tony would admit that he had been flirting, he’d hardly been going all out to seduce James, it had been playful, and reciprocated. Not that Steve seemed to care, as far as he was concerned, James was a virgin and about to be corrupted by Tony, infamous party Omega, with a little black book filled with conquests. 

Not the James appeared too impressed by Steve’s over protective behaviour, or that he insisted on calling him Bucky, something that had James shouting at him, telling him that Bucky was dead and that he was to be called James and nothing else. 

Then suddenly Steve was grabbing him and all Tony could see was Siberia, Steve pinning him down and beating the shield into him over and over, in his panic he managed to croak out to Friday to launch the suit and just after James had pulled Steve away from him, Tony was safely enveloped in the suit and flying away. 

He flew without aim, just soaring through the air over the city. He was crying and struggling to breathe while Friday spoke to him, encouraging him to count his breaths, to focus himself. 

“Just follow my voice boss, in through your nose deeply, hold it for a second now out through your mouth counting backwards from ten.” 

It was hard, Tony struggled to comply, but Friday was patient, talking him through it over and over, asking him to focus on what he could see, the suits interior, the HUD, then the outside of the suit, the trees, the rooftops, the Hudson, getting him to stop seeing Siberia, to stop hyperventilating. 

It took a while but sure enough Tony calmed down and brought the suit down at the docks, stepping out and sank down besides the suit.

“Thanks Fri.” He whispered, still a little breathless. He was still shaking too, it would take a while for that to pass. 

“Always, Bossman.” Friday replied, “Would you like me to order an exterminator for the pest problem at the tower?” She asked this in such a saccharine tone that Tony sputtered with laughter.

“You’re incorrigible Fri.” He scolded her,

“I get it from you, Boss.” She said, unrepentant.

“No.” Tony said after a beat, “Just make sure they don’t kill each-other, I don’t want to have to clean up corpses when I get home.”

“Oh, you won’t be going home, Stark,” A voice said from behind the crate Tony was leaning against, he sprang up and saw the Wrecking Crew, minus Piledriver standing there grinning menacingly at him. 

“In fact.” Wrecker said, stepping forward smacking his crowbar into his fist, “You won’t be going anywhere.” He glanced at Thunderball, “Get him!”

Tony sprang back, lunging for the suit just as Thunderball’s chain ball smashed through the create and knocked both him and the suit across the dock yard. 

*****

A Tony flew away James turned to Steve struggling to hold in his rage. “How dare you?” He roared at the other Alpha, “You attack an unarmed Omega in his own home, accuse him of prostituting himself, of brain washing….”

“I am trying to protect you!”

“I don’t want it!” James yelled, stunning Steve and actually silencing him for a blessed moment. James took a breath trying to calm himself down, if he didn’t calm down he’d end up killing Steve and that would mean Tony would have a mess on his nice floor, plus a body to dispose of, although James had a feeling that Friday would help get rid of the evidence if it came down to it!

“Tony wasn’t doing anything wrong.” He said in a calmer tone, “We were just talking,” He snorted, “Flirting, and there is nothing wrong in that, we’re both adults, we’re both single, and he’s a damn good looking Omega, sassy, intelligent, kind, generous, what’s not to love?” 

Steve’s eyes bulged, “Love?” He chocked out and James realized his slip, he’d meant to say like, instead he’d said love. Freud would have a field day!

“You can’t love him, Buck.” That put James’ teeth on edge for more than one reason. “He’s not good, for you.” Steve persisted, “He’s…. selfish, he’s obsessive, and he’s too free with his affections.”

“Selfish? I’m living here rent free, have you seen what he’s doing for the City, for the country?” James shot back, “And as for being obsessive, you are hardly one to talk there, and as for being free with his affections I can hardly judge him when I played the field just as much back in the day.”

Steve’s face softened at the mention of the past, “That was different Buck.”

“Why, because I’m and Alpha and he’s an Omega? Times have changed Steve, you need to realize and accept that, and accept that I am not the Bucky Barnes you knew seventy years ago, I may look like him, talk like him, have his memories, but I am not him.” James sighed and ran his hand through his hair, frustration and aggravation running through him as he stood before his oldest friend trying to make him understand things that he was still struggling to understand himself. 

“I’ve changed Steve. I’m not the man who left New York after a night at the Expo, the war, imprisonment, more fighting, being captured by Hydra, seventy years of torture and murder, then getting away from them, healing in Wakanda, all of it has changed me and if we’re to continue being friend then you need to accept that.” 

Steve’s face softened, “Of course we’re going to continue being friends, why wouldn’t we? You’re my best friend no matter what.”

“Then you need to trust me enough to make my own decisions and choices.” James said, “Including staying here with Tony.” 

“Buck, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Whether it is or its not, it’s my choice to make.” James said, just Friday spoke up,

“Sorry to interrupt, but Boss is in trouble at the docks, it’s the Wrecking Crew.”


	10. Chapter 10

Pain sliced through Tony’s side; his arm felt like it was on fire it hurt so much, and it was difficult to breathe with the sudden tightness and ache in his ribs. 

“Boss, get up boss!” Friday urged sounding panicked. 

Tony groaned; his head was spinning and he wanted to curl up in a ball and wait for the waves of pain to pass before he even thought about moving; but he could hear the wrecking crew behind him, hear Thunderball’s laughter and he knew he had to get back onto his feet and fast. 

Letting his right arm remain limp at his side, Tony forced himself up onto his hands and knees, using his left side to support his weight; the world spun and for a moment Tony thought that he would pass out, but that became the least of his problems as Bulldozer was suddenly slamming into his side and tossing him away from the suit, breaking more of his ribs and leaving him struggling to breathe. 

“Not much use without your suit, are you, Stark?” Wrecker jeered, “Just a pretty rich boy in a can.” 

Panting and with his uninjured arm wrapped about himself, Tony forced himself onto his knees and rasped out a call to Friday, but before she could respond and move the suit remotely, Wrecker began to smash the suit with his enchanted crowbar leaving Tony defenceless. 

Thunderball chuckled and began to swing his chainball while Bulldozer aimed his head getting ready to slam into Tony again. Weighing his options, Tony struggled to his feet and began to run as best he could, hobbling through the dock yard while clutching at his throbbing chest and struggling to breathe. Behind him, he could hear Wrecker joining the other assholes, and he heard metal crates being shattered but Thunderball and Bulldozer as they chased after him. 

Injured and in a lot of pain, Tony didn’t manage to get far before they had caught up with him; Bulldozer appeared in front of him, debris from a ship container raining down over them both as the thug grinned at him. 

“No where to run now Stark.” 

Tony took a few faltering steps backwards, only to collide with Wrecker; whose meaty arm wrapped about his throat, pinning Tony to his chest. 

“What shall we do with him boys?” He asked, “Kill him now, or shall we play with him for a bit?” 

“I say we play with him.” Thunderball said, looking delighted at the prospect, “Show him who’s really running this town now.”

Wrecker laughed tightened his grip on Tony, “Question is, where to start?”

Unable to break Wrecker’s grip with his single functional hand, Tony sucked in a deep breath, ignored the pain in his ribs and bent forward. He clamped his teeth down onto Wrecker’s forearm making the thug howl in pain and release him. Stumbling, Tony managed to run a few steps only to be treated to fresh agony as Thunderball’s chain ball struck his hip and thigh. 

Tony fell to the ground, the air being knocked out of him as his injured ribs were jolted and something popped in his leg; he lay on the ground fighting the urge to vomit or faint; then suddenly his world turned crimson and spun too fast as he was manhandled, being rolled onto his back and pinned down. As his vision cleared, he saw Wrecker standing over him, the brute’s boot over his wounded chest as Bulldozer and Thunderball stood to the side.

“You break his legs, then I’m gonna knock all his teeth out.” Wrecker ordered.

“Pleasure.” Thunderball said, he raised his chain ball and began to spin it in the air, gaining momentum; Tony tensed under Wrecker, too injured to fight and braced himself for the agony of shattered legs, only, just as Thunderball was about to wield his weapon as gunshot rang out, the bullet hitting Thunderball’s wrist, making his drop the chain ball which bounced off Bulldozer’s reinforced skull with a loud clang. 

Thunderball howled and clutched at his injured wrist, while Bulldozer clutched at his suddenly aching head. More shots were fired and Wrecker was forced to back off of Tony, using his crowbar to deflect bullets that were fired at him. 

Unable to sit up, Tony curled his good leg towards him and watched as James was set down on the ground by two Iron Legion suits along with Steve. 

James fired several more shots at Thunderball, who had picked up his chain ball with his good hand; this time the bullets hit Thunderball’s shoulder and knee forcing him to drop the weapon and fall to the ground. While Steve dealt with Bulldozer, James then tackled Wrecker, who charged at him, bringing his crow bar down on James’s metal arm. The vibranium sang under the impact but withstood the blow and James smashed the butt of his gun into Wrecker’s face, shattering his nose and driving him backwards, where he treated the Crew’s leader to a bond breaking kick to the chest and several more to the legs to get him on the ground, where one of the Iron Legion suits fired metal cuffs at him, imprisoning his ankles and then his wrists. 

“And if you want to keep breathing, stay down.” James snarled. 

As Steve drove Bulldozer head first into the ground and got his arms in dead locks behind his back, securing him for the second Iron Legion suit to cuff him, James ran to Tony’s side and knelt besides him. 

“Don’t try to move,” He instructed the Omega, looking him over with a worried expression. 

“My suit.” Tony groaned, “Wrecker damaged it, it’s back there.”

“Friday will locate it, there are more drones on the way.” James said, he tapped his com, “Friday, we need an ambulance, Tony is hurt, I think his leg might be broken and one of his arms definitely is, he needs a hospital.”

“An air evac will be faster.” Friday replied over the coms, “I am deploying two drones with a stretcher to take boss to the nearest functioning hospital.” 

“Thank’s baby girl.” Tony said and gave James a smile, “Thank you too, you saved my life.”

Taking off his face mask James gave Tony a grin, “All in a day’s work, Doll.” He drawled with a Brooklyn twang and a cockeyed wink, that had Tony chuckling and groaning for the pain;

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” He protested, tensing as Steve came over.

“Stark, you alright?” 

Tony rolled his eyes, “Peachy.”

“Cause he’s not alright you dolt!” James said, rising to his feet and giving Steve a slap about the back of the head, the force of it just on the side of friendly and playful. “Keep an eye on those three assholes will ya?”

“Oh Sir, yes Sir!” Steve said with a mock salute. 

“This ain’t over, Stark,” Wrecker yelled from his position on the ground, “We’ll getcha when your boyfriend ain’t around to save your arse.”

“Suck it, Wrecker.” Tony tossed back, wincing as talking required more breathing and hurt his ribs all the more. 

“Hey, stay still, don’t waste your breath on that dipshit.” James chided gently, “He’s not worth the effort Doll.”

Okay, that was twice now James had called him Doll and was looking at him with those soulful grey/blue eyes…, Tony opened his mouth to say something but at that moment the med-evac drones set down and James was up on his feet and guiding them into getting him on the stretcher without jarring his injuries, then personally secured the straps about Tony’s body to keep him safe during the flight to the hospital. 

“I’ll wait for the cops to pick these knob heads up, then I’ll come to the hospital.” James said, giving Tony’s good hand a squeeze, “Need me to pick you up anything at the tower first?” 

“Nah, I’m good.” Tony said, hoping he wouldn’t be in hospital long enough to require anything being brought in. 

“Okay, I’ll see you there.” James paused, shifted uncomfortably for a moment and then leaned forward and kissed Tony right on the lips; it was brief, the contact only lasting a second or two and then it was over, and James was walking away to grab Bulldozer by his collar and drag him over to Thunderball and Wrecker. 

“Just hold still Boss and you’ll be at the hospital before you know it.” Friday said.

Tony closed his eyes and tried to relax as the drones blasted off but his thoughts were running wild over the kiss, it was as if he’d never been kissed before, like he was a teenage pup experiencing a kiss on the mouth from someone other than a family member for the very first time. His mouth was tingling pleasantly and his stomach was fluttering.

“Pathetic.” Tony spat at himself disgustedly, but his disgust was half hearted, because the other half was too busy doing summersaults over the kiss. 

*****

Steve rose an eyebrow at James and the short Alpha shook his head, “Say nothing.” 

Wrecker began to laugh, “Got a bit of a crush do ya?” He sneered, “Don’t blame ya, if I didn’t hate Stark, I’d tap that fine ass of his myself.”

James bared his teeth in a feral grin, “Keep talking and you’ll have nothing to tap any arses with at all.”

“Fuck me!” Bulldozer cried,

“Not likely.” James deadpanned.

“I always thought you and Captain Spanglypants were fucking.” Bulldozer said looking between Steve and James.

Steve gaped at the thug while made a noise of disgust, “That’d be like fucking my bratty kid brother, and I don’t know about you assholes but I’m not into incest.”

“Into Stark though, ain’t ya?” Thunderball said, “S’why your so pissy ‘bout us givin’ ‘im a good kickin’” 

“And the fact your sacks of shit.” James said, “Now button it the lot of you.”

“Aww, he doesn’t kiss an tell.” Wrecker said making a smoochy face, “Ain’t that sweet.”

“Not as sweet as beating your face in will be if you don’t shut the hell up!”

*****

Tony was admitted to the hospital over night for observation. He had five broken ribs, three on his right side and two on his left, a hairline fracture of his right shoulder, a fracture in his humerus and a fracture in his ulna; his right hip had been dislocated and there was a hairline fracture in his femur. 

“They’re keeping me in just to be sure I don’t have internal bleeding or a concussion.” Tony explained to James, as he lay in his hospital bed, his right side covered in casts from his shoulder to his hand, and from his hip to his foot. “I’ll be in a wheelchair for a while, but they’ll get me in a walking cast as soon as possible.”

James nodded, “Well I can carry you, easy, so there’s no worries there.”

“Means I can’t patrol.” Tony sighed, he couldn’t go out in a suit in plaster and he was looking a weeks of waiting for his limbs to heal; he could remote control a suit, but it just wasn’t the same.

“Where’s Rogers?” He asked James, having half expected the Captain to have accompanied James to the hospital.

“He provided the police escort as they took the Wrecking Crew in.” James said, “And he’s gone back to the compound, I told him I needed space, that he had to accept that the Bucky Barnes he knew is dead and gone.”

“Bet that pleased him.” Tony grunted, he sighed and tried to get comfortable on the hospital bed, “Look, you don’t have to stay here.” He said, “I know hospitals suck, you can go back to the tower and hang out, do whatever you want.”

“Why would I want to be anywhere but with you?” 

Despite the residual pain, Tony couldn’t help but smile, “That charm will get you everywhere, Sergeant.”

“Oh, is that a promise, Mr Stark?” 

The air seemed to thicken and Tony held his breath, wondering if James would kiss him again, only suddenly Rhodey was bursting into the hospital room, looking panic stricken and dishevelled. 

“Jesus Christ Tones!” He cried, “Are you trying to make me bald, are you trying to give me a stroke? First you’re in space and now this? What the hell man?”

Tony couldn’t help but to laugh even though it made his ribs ache, “Gotta keep you on your toes, Rhodeybear, don’t want life getting too dull for you.”

Rhodey scoffed and rolled his eyes, “With you around, life is anything but dull.” He looked Tony over, taking in the casts and the bruising that was spreading over Tony’s body, “How bad?” he asked.

“Nothing that won’t heal.” Tony said, but then James listed his injuries and Rhodey’s mothering instincts began to go into over drive, and before Tony could say or do anything that would possibly help, Pepper arrived and Tony wound himself with three self-appointed Mother-hens, who would not be letting get out of bed, expect to use the toilet when he got back home, and would be confiscating his Stark Pad and Phone, so he couldn’t bury himself in work and stress himself out while he was supposed to be healing. 

Tony slumped back on his pillows and pouted while trying not to stare at Bucky’s mouth and imagine kissing him again, this time without interruption and possibly deepening the kiss, using a little tongue, maybe running his fingers through that unruly hair and putting his hand up that shirt to feel those firm muscles… ugh! Silently Tony groaned and tried to stop thinking sexy thoughts, the last thing he needed while being in a hospital bed was a boner.


	11. Chapter 11

Tony was actually kept in hospital for a full week before he was finally released back to the tower. 

He was going to be in a wheelchair for a full six weeks, five after he’d left the hospital, then he’d be put in a walking cast for another twelve weeks, after which his leg would be examined to see how the injury was healing, if it was sufficiently recovered he’d be free of the casts altogether, but if not, then he would have to wait probably another eight weeks before he’d be free of them. 

Sixteen weeks in an uncomfortable cast was not something Tony was looking forward to, especially since his arm was also in a cast and would remain in one for twelve weeks, eleven now. 

Within the first week of his arrival back home, Rocket, Nebula, and Carol came to see him and say goodbye as they were all heading back out into space. They promised to stay in touch with Tony and all wrote messages on his cast in marker pen. 

Pepper came and stayed at the Tower for the first week to help Tony settle in and sort out a routine for him on getting up from the bed and getting to and from the bathroom; Rhodey came too and between him and James they assisted Tony in getting up from his wheelchair and sat on the toilet so he could do his business, then sat back in his wheelchair while he washed his hands. 

They also took turns in helping him to wash; Tony couldn’t stand in a shower or really sit right now, so sponge baths were the only option. With both men having been in the military and having shared barracks in boot camp and on bases nudity meant nothing to them, they were both efficient and business like as they sponged Tony over, lathered him in soap and then sponged him clean again. 

Tony might have been uncomfortable about James seeing him naked in such a state, but honestly, he was either in too much pain or was too wiped out on the pain killers for it to become an issue. 

The Omega did little but sleep during those first few weeks when he was taking the full dose of his pain killers, then, as the pain eased he began to wean off them and became more consciously aware of what was going on about him. 

During his drug fuelled absence, Rhodey and James seemed to have formed a respect for each other and were working together well to both care for Tony and to keep New York patrolled, the two of them taking turns at going out at night while the other remained in the Tower to keep an eye on Tony and help him with anything he needed. 

This also afforded Rhodey a chance to talk to Tony once the drugs weren’t knocking him out all the time. 

As they sat in front of the TV watching American Horror Story, Rhodey turned to Tony and began the conversation they’d been needing to have for some time, probably since Tony had first become Iron Man. 

“I never meant to hurt you or to betray you, you do know that right?” Rhodey said, “When I called to get Steve and the rest of them back here I didn’t do it as a betrayal to you or because I wanted them back, I did it because I was desperate, because I’d seen you disappear in a space ship and I didn’t know if I would ever see you again, but I did know that bad shit was coming and that I couldn’t face it alone.”

Tony looked at Rhodey carefully, the Colonel wasn’t lying; Rhodey couldn’t lie for shit anyway, he always gave himself away, and he wasn’t trying to lie now, “I know.” Tony said, “And I get it, I get why you had to call them back and I’m sorry for yelling at you and accusing you of choosing sides, it wasn’t fair of me.”

“No it was.” Rhodey said, “It was more than fair. I haven’t always been on your side when I should have been, I haven’t given you the time to explain yourself or bothered to look deeper than whatever story you might have been slinging out, saying that you were okay when you clearly were not.” Rhodey was referring to when he’d been dismissive of Tony when he was trying to tell him about the Iron Man suit he was making, basically accusing him of having some kind of nervous break down or psychotic episode because he’d shut down the weapons manufacturing. Also, when Tony had been dying of palladium poisoning. 

Rhodey could kick himself now looking back, it had been so obvious that there was something seriously wrong with Tony. The patterns on his skin, how pasty and ill he’d been looking, that damned smoking chunk of palladium that he’d taken out of the reactor in front of Rhodey.   
He should have known Tony wasn’t alright, even an idiot could have seen it, but instead of talking to him, making Tony talk to him, he’d swallowed the lie of everything being fine. 

And why? 

Because it was easier, because Rhodey had the military breathing down his neck about Iron Man, because part of him was jealous of Tony having such weapon at his disposal and not giving it to the military and him. 

The creation of Iron Man had changed their dynamic in ways that Rhodey had struggled to deal with. For more than twenty years they had been genius creator of weapons and the highly skilled military man who used those weapons. With Tony becoming Iron Man, he’d made the skilled military man obsolete. There had been nothing that Rhodey or any fighter pilot could do that Tony couldn’t do himself in the suit, and probably a hell of a lot better. 

The jealousy had burned in Rhodey for months, he’d hated it, hated himself for feeling it, for being petty enough to feel it, especially when Tony had offered to share all this with him when he was first designing the prototype. 

There was perhaps some guilt there too, misplaced guilt, over his not truly saving Tony from Afghanistan. He’d picked Tony up from the desert sure, but it had been Tony himself who’d gotten out of the hands of the terrorists, had proven that he didn’t need protecting or saving by anyone. A shrink would no doubt have a diagnosis for this, but Rhodey didn’t need that, he was consciously aware enough to know that he hadn’t handled Tony’s kidnap and return well or even healthily, he was also self-aware enough to know that he’d been a shitty friend more than once and that unless he wanted to lose Tony for good, he needed to apologise and do better in the future. 

The downside was that Tony was terrible at talking about feelings and about accepting apologies, he just didn’t know how to do so, became uncomfortable and tried changing the subject, which he was doing right now, trying to talk about all the upgrade ideas he had for War Machine and for the braces, and how he figured he could put nano tech in the braces so that the armour would spread from them. 

“Tony, will you stop talking about your mad science and listen to me for a minute.” Rhodey said, “I need to apologise to you.”

Tony shifted looking like his skin was itching, “You have, I accept, that’s it done. Now can we talk about nano tech?”

Rhodey groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “We’re not done Tony, this is…I’ve been a shit friend to you and I need for you to acknowledge that and help me to…be better, so I don’t hurt you again and we don’t lose our friendship.” 

Now Tony looked alarmed, “We’re not going to lose our friendship, are we?” 

“Well it’s a risk if we don’t fix this and sort our shit out.” Rhodey said, “I care about you Tones, I care about you a lot. You’re the little kid brother I never had, and you’ve annoyed me, worried me, frustrated the hell out of me, amazed me, and made me so happy over the years.”

Tony made a wounded noise, “Rhodeybear, stop please.”

“I didn’t stand by you when I should have done, I didn’t apologize for actions I’ve taken when I should have, I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. I’ve let you down far too many times and I am sorry for it, I really am.”

Tony looked up at Rhodey, “I’ve let you down too. Not showing up to award ceremonies even though they were boring as fuck. Being late to appointments, being drunk all the time and deliberately pushing your buttons.”

“You had alcohol issues. I should have spoken up about it when you first started down that path, but I didn’t, I ignored it. I ignored the way Stane treated you, fuck! I didn’t even try and stop Thor when he was strangling you!”

“Oh hey, he’s a fucking God.” Tony said, “If you’d tried to stop him he could have snapped you in half.”

“Which he nearly did to you. Fucking overgrown ape!” Rhodey growled. 

Tony snickered, “You can’t have brains and beauty. Well, unless you are me, but that goes without saying.”

Rhodey snorted, Tony was changing the subject again but this time he let him, he’d gotten out all that needed to be said, and had apologised, he would have to hope that it was enough. 

“I think you are getting a bit long in the tooth to be saying that, Stark.” He said. 

“Bite me, at least my hair isn’t receding.” Tony shot back. Rhodey ran a hand over his thinning hair, keeping it close cropped helped hide the face that it was starting to thin, a problem Tony wasn’t (Yet) facing. 

“Well Barnes sure thinks you’re hot.” Rhodey said, noting the blush that crept up Tony’s cheeks. “I’d say he’s got a thing for you.” He nudged Tony’s good leg with his foot. 

“Shut up, he does not.” 

“Oh, he so does. He’s got this big protective Alpha vibe going for you.”

Tony was smiling almost shyly, “We did kiss.” He admitted, “At the docks when he saved from the Wrecking Douches. We almost kissed before then, but Captain Dickwad showed up and ruined it.”

“Yeah, Rogers.” Rhodey said, “What do you want to happen there, with him and Romanoff. They are still staying at the Compound right now.”

“Leave them there.” Tony said, “At least we know where they are and can keep an eye on what they are doing, make sure they aren’t fucking anything else up.” 

“You sure, because I’ll go right over there and kick them out, I swear I’ll do it and I’ll bet Barnes will back me up!”

Tony snorted softly, “He likes being called James.”

“So I hear.”

Tony sighed, “I like him Rhodey.” He admitted, “I…shit, its fucked up isn’t it? Me getting feelings for the guy who technically murdered my parents?”

“It’s unusual.” Rhodey said, “It’s complicated, but you’ve never been an easy straight forward Omega so it’s fitting for you.”

“Gee thanks.” 

“I really think he likes you too.” Rhodey said, “And he seems like he’s a good guy.” 

“He is.” Tony agreed, “A really good guy. But should I do anything? He’s been through so much shit, we both have, and we don’t know each-other that well, would it really be a good idea?” 

Rhodey heaved a deep sigh, “Ordinarily I’d say take your time and get to know each-other, not to rush into anything. But, given the circumstances, I’d say if we have learned anything it’s that life is precarious and that if we wait then we risk never knowing if something would have worked or not.” 

Tony pursed his lips thinking about it, “Cap won’t like it.” 

“Oh fuck Rogers.”

“Hell no!”

“This isn’t anything to do with him.” Rhodey said, “If he gives you and Barnes shit over it then I’ll kick his spangled ass for him. This is about you and Barnes, what the two of you want, and yeah, the situation might not be perfect or uncomplicated but what relationship ever is? If you want my advice for what it is worth, I would say go for it, at worst it doesn’t work out, and at best…, well, who knows what the future holds.”

Tony smiled and leaned into Rhodey, “Thanks Rhodeykins.” 

“Sure thing Tones.” Rhodey said putting his arm around Tony and holding him close, “Oh, and if Barnes hurts you, you know I’ll bury him.” 

Tony huffed a laugh and snuggled into Rhodey’s embrace wondering how he was going to talk to Bucky about this.


	12. Chapter 12

There was something different. James wasn’t an idiot, neither was he blind. He knew that there was something different with Tony, with the way he was behaving. He kept giving James shy glances when he thought that James wasn’t looking, would look as if he were about to say something and then he would bite his lip and change his mind. 

Rhodey knew there was something off as well, or rather he knew what was up with Tony but wouldn’t tell James when asked, instead he just smirked knowingly, patted his should and told him he’d find out soon enough on his own. 

James put up with the weirdness for nearly two weeks before he cracked and confronted Tony wanting to know what was going on with the billionaire and if he was regretting asking James to live with him, something Tony vehemently denied. 

“Then what is it?” James cried, “You are uncomfortable around me, and if its not that then I don’t know what.”

“I’m not uncomfortable!” Tony protested and James scoffed, “Okay, yeah, I am, but not for the reasons you think.” Tony said looking more uncomfortable than ever. 

“What reason?” James demanded, “What could possibly be the reason?” Tony mumbled something and James had to strain to hear him and even then had to ask him to repeated himself. 

Sighing heavily Tony looked up at him but couldn’t meet his eyes. “I like you.” He said in a low voice, “As more than a friend. I like you as a lover, as an Alpha.” James inhaled sharply at this giving Tony the wrong idea and he immediately began to backtrack. 

“I know its ridiculous, we can’t be together. I’m too old and fucked up. You don’t need to worry about me making a move on you or anything because I wouldn’t do that, hell I couldn’t right now, I’m a fucking cripple. But even when I’m healed I won’t, you have enough shit to deal with, without some middle aged, soon to be in heat-secession Omega making passes at you…”

“Tony shut up!” 

Tony’s mouth snapped shut and he gazed at James with wide eyes. James chuckled and scratched the back of his head, “You really can talk a damn lot when you want to, can’t you Doll, how’s a guy supposed to get a word in when you are yammering on like that?”

Tony shrugged and opened his mouth to reply only he suddenly found his lips covered by James’ which had him squeaking in surprise and freezing up for a second, then he was leaning into the kiss and kissing James back just as hard. He actually whined when James broke the kiss and tried to follow after the Alpha as James pulled away. 

“Easy Doll, no need to rush.” He said taking Tony’s good hand and kissing it, “We’ve plenty of time and I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. I wanna do this proper and take you on a date.”

To his dying day Tony would deny that he blushed, but blush he did and his cheeks dimpled with his smile, “A date?” He repeated not able to remember the last time he’d been on a date. Then he frowned, “You’re not gonna make me wait until I’m out of the casts are you?” He asked not really wanting to wait for months, he also didn’t relish going out to dinner in the casts but hey, he’d take what he could get. 

“No honey, I don’t have that much self-restraint.” James said, “Besides, for what I’ve got in mind, we don’t even have to leave the tower.” 

“Huh?” Tony frowned but James leaned in a pecked him on the nose, 

“Just be patient and all will be revealed.

*****

“If you hurt one hair on his head you know I’m gonna kill you, right?” 

James rose an eyebrow at Rhodey. He’d been expecting the shovel talk, so he really wasn’t surprised when the Colonel cornered him in the kitchen where he was making preparations for his date with Tony. 

“I mean it, Barnes. If he sheds so much as a single tear because of you, then there won’t be enough left of you for anyone to find.” Rhodey told him and by the steel look in his eyes, James believed him. 

“Understood Colonel.” He said, “And I don’t plan on hurting him. I think there has been enough hurt all around. I know I can’t undo the past but…., well I hope I can make the future better for us both.”

Rhodey softened, “Just make him happy, that’s all I ask.” 

“I intend to.” 

Rhodey watched as James began to dice an onion. “Have you thought about what you’ll tell Rogers?” He asked, “Sooner or later he’s bound to find out and I doubt he’s going to be happy about this.”

James stiffened and sighed, “I kind of already knows that I like Tony, and yeah he isn’t happy about it. But its not his business, you know?” He looked up and met Rhodey’s dark eyes, “I want to be friends with him, but I’m not prepared to let him dictate how I live my life or who I spend my life with. I know me and Tony are a strange pairing considering our pasts, but if we make each-other happy then why should it bother anyone else.”

“It shouldn’t, but Tony is a celebrity, that makes his life public knowledge, so when this gets out it everyone will have an opinion and not all those opinions will be supportive.” Rhodey warned him, “The media and the public can be brutal. I’ve caught some of the shit myself, mostly racial slurs from the gutter trash that don’t think an unmated Black Alpha should be around a white Omega and shit like that.” He smiled slightly when James called the people who’d said such rubbish several choice names, “Tony’s received racial abuse too. His Mother was half Italian, he’s been accused of being “Pretend White” and other names I won’t both saying. You might find that you’ll get abuse too, because you are of Irish stock.” 

James snorted, “That won’t be anything I haven’t heard before.” There had been plenty of racial tension back in the forties, he hadn’t received a huge amount of it himself, but some people had chosen to let him know that they didn’t like the Irish, that they didn’t like Catholics, told him he was nothing but gutter trash etc. He’d never suffered as much as Gabe Jones, who’d been singled out and attacked several times because he was black. Both before he’d joined up and during his time in the army. Gabe’s story hadn’t been unique, far from it and he had suffered cruelly while they’d been in the Hydra camp, the Nazi bastards hating him even more than they hated everyone else. 

It was a beyond disappointing that the freedom James had practically lost his life for had not brought about a clarity in people’s minds and ended such bigotry. 

He knew that things were better now, James Rhodes was proof of that. He was a full Colonel, a rank he would never have reached back in the forties. But it still wasn’t perfect, and James had doubts that it ever would be. 

“It it’s just racism either.” Rhodey warned him, “People attack over everything, clothing choices, hair styles, weight. Anything they can find to stick a knife into they’ll do it, if you are in for the long haul then you’ll need to harden your heart to that kind of shit.”

“Noted.” James said finishing dicing the onion and got the minced meat out of the packet, “But I won’t be standing for anyone shit talking my Omega. If they start in on him then they’re gonna find their faces on the end of my fist!” He clenched his metal hand menacingly and Rhodey grinned. 

“I can live with that. I’ll even help you hide the bodies when you’re done!”

*****

Tony had no idea what to expect for his date with James. He couldn’t really dress up, he was living in sweat pants with one of the legs cut off and T-shirts with the arm cut off right now because of his casts. Rhodey was no help, he wouldn’t tell Tony anything just gave him knowing grins and ignored Tony’s attempted bribes and snarled threats, even going so far as to pat him on the head! Bastard.

See if Tony even up graded War Machine again. 

Then, in the evening, James came to get Tony, carrying him out onto the balcony where a picnic had been set up. 

He’d lain a blanket down on the ground and put pillows over it for them to relax on, lit candles that glowed in the light of the setting sun, had a bottle of soda on ice and a couple of cups set out, and a serving plate of food covered over with a metal dish to keep it warm. 

“You did all this for me?” Tony asked as James set him down and made sure he was as comfortable as he could be with half his body in plaster. 

“Nothing but the best for my Doll.” James said, he took the lid off the food and Tony snorted with laughter as he was presented with cheese burgers and chips which James had made for them knowing by now that they were Tony’s favourite food. 

“Gourmet cuisine.” James said putting a burger on a plate and handed it to Tony, pausing to fill their cups with soda before getting a burger for himself and sat down besides Tony. 

“Hmm, this is good.” Tony said, “Damn, you’ve got talent here.” He wasn’t just being flattering, James was a damn good cook. 

“I learned to cook back when I was a Pup.” James said, “It helped my Ma if I could put a meal together for us, she had a lot on her plate with me and my sisters.” He could remember how happy his Mother had been when he’d served up hot meals in the evening, nothing fancy as they didn’t have the money, but hearty nourishing food all the same, stews, soups, mash potatoes with any meat available, bubble and squeak. Cornbeef hash. 

He could remember Steve scoffing and calling it girly and beneath and Alpha, but James hadn’t felt that way, he’d liked helping his Mother and Sisters, if had given him a sense of pride to know that he was providing for his family, making sure they all ate and had something warm inside them. 

“Ana taught me to cook a little.” Tony said, “Or she tried to, but mostly I would just make a mess and lick the bowls out.” James grinned imagining Tony as a little Pup with smudges of flour on his face and dusting his hair, his mouth smeared in cake batter as he ate out of the mixing bowl. 

“I’ll bet you were frequently caught sneaking cookies when you thought no one was looking.” James said. 

A slightly wistful look passed over Tony’s face, “Not so much. My Mother was always on a diet to counter the amount of alcohol she drank with her Valium, so she didn’t want cookies or cake or anything in the house. Howard didn’t want me to get fat, so I only got cake and such when I was in Jarvis and Ana’s apartments.” 

“I’m sorry.” James said but Tony shook his head and smiled, 

“Don’t be, and tell me how you learned to make such awesome burgers. I didn’t think they had burgers back in the dark ages.”

“Hey, I’m not from the dark ages!” James protested with a laugh, “We did have burgers back then and for a while they were called Liberty Steaks, because Hamburger was too German.”

“Yeah I remember being told that.” Tony said finishing his burger and began to pick at the chips for while, “You know Cheese burgers were the first thing I ate when I got back from Afghanistan?” 

“Doesn’t surprise me with how much you whined for one when you got back from space.”

“I don’t whine.”

“You do, you were worse than a petulant toddler.” 

“Bite me Cave man brow.”

James wiggled his eyebrows, “Is that an invitation?” Tony blushed, James meant it jokingly, but the thought of them mating and bonding was not something Tony would say no to. It was too soon, he had no idea when his heat would be anyway, they had been erratic for a while now and his recent weight loss would not help that, neither would his injuries thanks to the wrecking crew. He knew they shouldn’t go straight into a bonding anyway, should wait a while; but, considering all that they had lost, all they had been through, maybe waiting wasn’t something they should do, perhaps they should seize any opportunity presented to them and make the most of it, because if they didn’t then they may not ever get another chance. 

After the burgers and chips, James went back into the penthouse and came out with a couple of tubs of Ben and Jerrys, he’d been desperate to try them since Tony had mentioned them and they would make the perfect dessert for their date. 

With their tubs of chocolate fudge brownie in their hands, the two snuggled up against each other with James supporting Tony’s weight as they spooned ice cream and watched as the stars slowly appeared and began to pick out the constellations they could see as the night drew in.   
When the air finally began to get too cold for them to be outside, James carried Tony back into the Penthouse and through to his bedroom, laying him down on the bed. 

“Thank you.” Tony said, “That was the best date I’ve ever had.” He meant it too. The food had been great, the atmosphere relaxed and happy, he hadn’t felt like he had to try to live up to expectations or put on a mask, he could just be himself and enjoy the time with James. 

“Me too.” James said, “Although once you’re back on your feet I want to take you dancing.” 

Tony laughed, “I’ll hold you to that, Big guy, I expect you to sweep me off my feet.” 

James leaned in and kissed him, “Count on it.”


	13. Chapter 13

New York.

While he still couldn’t go out in the suit until his casts had come off and he’d completed his physio-therapy, Tony could operate a suit via remote control which he started doing when Rhodey was called to Washington; what was left of the Government and the military were coming together to try and return some order to the country. While Tony and James were doing a great job in New York, the rest of America was suffering riots, looting, and general havoc still, as were all towns and cities around the world. The remaining governments were trying to form a new UN to combine efforts to repair and rebuild. Old conflicts over religion, resources, and other disputes were being put aside to help safe guard the living. Or at least that was what the aim was, not everyone was on board though, the militaries around the world were in talks to be combined to deal with remaining terrorists cells that were trying to usurp the power vacuums, and to backup civilian law enforcement, and transport aid where it was needed. 

Rhodey as a senior officer and long term liaison officer was greatly sort after, not only for his combat experience but also for his diplomatic skills. 

When he left Tony began to back James up again, remote piloting one of his suits as James patrolled the streets. For the most part things were settling down in New York. The Wrecking Crew had been one of the major issues and they were all in prison right now so they were no longer a problem. 

The average thug or drunken idiot James could easily handle, it was only if there was a gang that Tony needed to provide backup for him, and when the remaining members of the Serpent Society decided to slither out of whatever hole they’d been hiding in and start causing trouble. 

That had been eventful, Viper had rallied the forces of all the serpents left in the world and decided to launch an attack to take over the world starting with New York. 

With nearly a dozen serpents to deal with James and Tony had been run ragged and had to begrudgingly call in aid from Steve and Natasha. 

It took ten days to round up and deal with all of the serpents but by the time they were done, Viper, Slither, Black Mamba, King Cobra, Puff Adder, Cottonmouth, Copperhead, Diamond Back, Constrictor, and Anaconda were all in custody. 

“I hate snakes.” Had been Natasha’s feelings on the subject, something Tony could relate to as he had no fondness for the reptiles himself. 

Steve naturally wanted to stick around and try to persuade James into coming back to the compound with him, or for them to start looking for an apartment together in Brooklyn. Tony cringed for James as the Alpha was forced to bear witness to Steve’s puppy dog eyes and pleading expression again and again as he shot him down. 

They were going to have to tell Steve of their involvement sooner or later, but Tony was really hoping for later. It wasn’t that he was ashamed, far from it. It was that he wasn’t ready to share his new found romance with anyone else. He wanted for him and James to remain in their safe little bubble where no one’s opinions could touch them, where it was just them safely cocooned in their happiness. 

He knew that this privacy couldn’t last forever, he was too much of a public figure for that. But he wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible, before the inevitable backlash started. 

He already knew that Steve would be completely against the relationship. Steve had never been one of his supporters or fans and he was obsessively possessive of James, almost to the point that Tony would think that Steve were in love with him, but no, Roger’s was straight. His love for James was platonic not romantic or sexual. He would be completely against Tony and James being together, would not support this at all. 

While he didn’t want to doubt James at all, Tony couldn’t help but to feel uncertain when it came to Steve. The two had a huge history together and part of Tony did worry that Steve might be able to influence James into leaving him if he tried hard enough. 

Other than that, his relationship with James was going great. They hadn’t had sex yet, with the casts on that wasn’t really an option yet, there was no position Tony could get into that would be comfortable enough for them to do so. That said, they were not completely chaste. 

Hand jobs and blow jobs were quickly becoming a regular occurrence and James was now sleeping in Tony’s bed every night, and as he slept less than Tony, he was always up before him every morning and treated Tony to breakfast in bed. Always something cooked, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, porridge with blueberries sweetened with golden syrup, even croissants when James decided to go and find a bakery one morning. 

With his appetite improving, James’s skills in cooking, plus his enjoyment of cooking which James apparently found relaxing, and Tony’s current immobility, his weight improved swiftly, to the point that Tony was starting to worry about his waistline, however when he broached the subject with James, the Alpha merely leered at him and said something about liking to have something he could grab onto!

In any case, Tony needed all the energy stores he could get once his physio began which was not short of gruelling. 

*****

Tony had expected some pain when he started to put weight on his healing leg again, what he had not expected was the lightning bolt agony that shot through the limb the second he put his foot to the ground. 

“Support yourself on the bars and take it slowly.” The physio instructed as Tony fought against nausea and the urge to pass out. It didn’t help that he was struggling to support his weight due to his arm being broken, it took ached angrily and he had yet to start the physio he’d be doing upon it. 

Panting and biting at his bottom lip Tony forced himself to put his weight on his injured leg moaning with the pain and swiftly getting back onto his good leg. 

“This is too soon, he’d in too much pain.” James protested to the Physio. 

“I’m okay.” Tony lied, forcing himself to take another step. He thought about Rhodey, the pain he’d been in after his spinal injury, the weeks of physio he’d endured to walk about with the braces. If he could go through that with such a severe injury then Tony could manage this. 

It took him the better part of an hour but he eventually made it the full length of the bar and back to his wheelchair before collapsing into it, covered in sweat and shaking with exertion. 

“Alright we’ll leave that there for today.” The physio said, “And move onto treating your arm.”

“Great.” Tony said dreading it already and braced himself for further pain. 

The arm exercises were less agonising than the leg exercises, but then he wasn’t having to bear his body weight on the limb, however by the time he was done with the session Tony felt exhausted and was covered in sweat and more than ready to get home. 

While he was now in a walking cast and had crutches, he was still using the wheelchair until he had more movement in his leg and could bear more weight upon it. He could also still only use the one crutch until his other arm healed enough to use the second crutch. 

“I hated seeing you in pain. I hate seeing you in pain.” James said when they were back at the penthouse and he was helping Tony change out of his tracksuit and clean up before putting him into a t-shirt and more tracksuit bottoms with one of the legs cut off. 

“Gotta be done.” Tony said, sitting forward so James could wash his back with more ease. “I want to walk again and the only way that is going to happen is if I do the physio. So pain or not, it’s got to be done.”

“I still don’t like it.” James grumbled, washing the soap off Tony’s back and then dried his skin with a towel. 

“You don’t have to watch.” Tony said, looking up at him from the bath stool, “You can drop me at the hospital and then come back when the session is over. I mean, I appreciate you being there, but you don’t have to be if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.” James said with certainty. He set down the wash cloth and took Tony’s good hand, giving it a squeeze, “I want to support you through this, help you in anyway I can. I just hate seeing you suffering, even if it is necessary suffering.”

Tony’s cheeks dimpled with a smile and he tugged on James’ hand, pulling him down for a kiss, “Just think about us dancing once I can walk unaided again.” He whispered against James’ lips. “I believe you said something about sweeping me off my feet?”

James hummed and kissed Tony’s stubbled lips, “Why wait until then?” 

“Wha..” Tony didn’t get a chance to finish as suddenly James had swept him up into his arms and was calling out to Friday to play them a slow moving dance track they could sway to, or rather he could while carrying Tony like a bride. 

“This wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Tony laughed, looping his arms around James’ neck, letting out a gasp and a peal of laughter when James dipped him. 

“No, but it’ll do until your back on your feet.” James said spinning them around, “Then we’ll go dancing properly, a real night on the town, a show, dinner, and dancing.”

“Sounds good to me.” Tony agreed and with them having to wait for his leg to heal it meant that more business would have a chance to open again so they would have more options available to them. 

When the song ended James carefully set Tony back down on the stool and continued washing and drying him, then got him dressed again and carried him back through to the bedroom, where he set him down on the bed. 

“We’re going to have to tell Steve you know.” Tony said as James plumped the pillows up behind him, “It might be best to do so before the media get a hold of the story. I doubt he’ll react well to learning this from the newspapers or a news station.”

“I know.” James said with a heavy sigh. He lay down besides Tony, taking hold of his good hand and interlocked their fingers. “I’ve been putting off telling him because I know he’s going to make a fuss about it, and I can’t be arsed to deal with that. He says he’s my friend, but a friend would support me and my choices, if he can’t do that then he isn’t my friend.”

Tony winced knowing that Steve would never support this, not truly. He’d always be waiting for James to “See the light” and run back to him and agree with whatever he had to say about Tony Stark and his failings. 

“You don’t have to tell him.” He offered, “We don’t have to tell anyone. We can keep this to ourselves. We just won’t be affectionate in public, that way..”

“No!” James said vehemently, “I’m not having you be my dirty secret or something. If Steve and others can’t handle us being together then that is their problem. I’m not going to let them or anyone dictate how I should live my life or whom I spend it with.” He sat up and held Tony’s hand in his lap. 

“I love you.” He said and Tony smiled, opening his mouth to return the sentiment only James stopped him and repeated himself with surety and sincerity. “I love you. Tony Stark. I am in love with you. This isn’t a fling for me, I don’t just want a few dates and a roll in the hay, I want a relationship with you. I want us to build a future together, to spend our lives together. I want…..”He paused and a bashful look came over his face, “I want you to be my mate.” He admitted. 

Tony’s eyes widened in surprised, “I know it’s fast.” James said, “We’ve only been together a few weeks. But I am certain of what I feel.” He smiled and a look of nostalgia glimmered in his eyes, “I remember my Ma telling me about true mates. How I would know when I met mine, how my feelings for them would be far superior to any feelings I’d ever had for anyone before. How I’d make an instant connection with them that would only grow stronger, how I’d dream about being with them for the rest of my life and be unable to bear thinking of ever being with anyone else or being apart from them.” He smiled and looked back to Tony who had a suspicious shimmer in his eyes that looked like tears, “You are my true mate. I am sure of it.” He said, “I want to be with you Tony, always. I don’t care what anyone says or does, this is it for me.” An uncertain look passed over his face, “If you feel the same….”

“I do!” Tony swiftly said, “I do. I want to be with you too. I just don’t want you to regret this, to lose your friendship with Steve or a chance of a future with someone better…”

“Hey, who is better than Tony Stark?” James said, cupping Tony’s cheek and rubbed his thumb over the stubble of his goatee, “What could possibly be better than a Billionaire, Genius, Superhero?” 

“You forgot playboy and Philanthropist.” Tony said.

“Not a playboy now. You’re my boy only. That ass is mine.” James said with growl that went straight to Tony’s crotch, damn his casts, damn them to hell!

“OH yeah?” he asked with his most coy smile, “What are you going to do, put your mark upon my butt cheeks so everyone will know who I belong too?” 

“Damn right I will.” James growled, “As soon as you are out of those casts, I’m going to fuck you through this bed and make sure that you are walking funny for a week, but the time I’m through you’ll be oozing with my scent markers, filled to bursting with my seed, and so thoroughly claimed that no Alpha or Beta will dare so much as look at you, let alone go near you again.” 

Tony groaned at the thought of James claiming him so completely, making him his bitch, fucking him into incoherence, God, the day the casts came off couldn’t come soon enough, although he might well die from UST before then, and James from blue balls!


	14. Chapter 14

Avengers Compound. 

For that James had said to him, Tony couldn’t help but to feel apprehensive as they arrived at the compound. 

They had decided it was time to tell Steve of their relationship before he learned about it from another source. With Tony’s body healing, he was now going for daily walks through central park and James always accompanied him, taking his arm and supporting his weight when he got to tired and not just in a friendly “I’ll support you buddy.” Kind of way either. 

There had already been some photos circulated by the press and some speculation, but so far there was nothing more than rumours, that said, it would not be long before that changed and it would be better if Steve heard this from James directly. 

Steve was painfully enthusiastic as he greeted them both, well, enthusiastic towards James at least, he did give Tony a hand shake though and asked how he was doing with his injuries. He was keen to get James alone though which left Tony with Natasha. 

The two of them went through to the kitchen where Tony sat at the counter, grateful to get the weight off his leg while Natasha got them both coffee and snacks. While she would gut anyone who mentioned it, Natasha had a sweet tooth and couldn’t say no to chocolate chip cookies. 

“You seem to be on the mend.” She commented taking her own seat. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Tony replied taking a cookie and nibbled on it, “I’ve still got some more hours in physio, but the Doctors think I’ll make at least a ninety-five percent recovery.” He could live with a five percent decrease in efficiency in his leg. 

“Well that’s good.” Natasha said, “And the Sergeant is taking good care of you?” The smugness in her tone had Tony on edge and the hair rose on the back of his neck as she smirked, “You might want to hide the hicky if you are trying to keep this quiet.” She suggested, eyeing the impressive mark on Tony’s throat which his hand immediately went to. 

“Damn spies.” Tony grumbled tugging his colour up to hide the mark while silently cursing James and his need to leave his mark upon Tony’s body, he would swear, if James were a dog, he’d be constantly humping Tony’s leg and pissing on him. Okay, that was a gross thought.

“How long have you two been together?” Natasha asked, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“Nearly two months.” Tony said, “We’ve been trying to keep it private, but the Paps are starting to catch wind and we figured that it would be best that Steve hear this from us rather than the Press.”

Natasha made an uncertain noise in her throat and Tony sighed, “Okay, he’s going to go ballistic I know.”

“He has no right to.” Natasha said, “You and Barnes are both single adults, you are intitled to be with whom you choose, besides.” Her face softened and her eyes became slightly moist, “With all that has been lost, something good should come out of this.”

“Yeah…” Tony looked down into his coffee feeling the weight of that grief still heavy in the air, “Have you heard anything of Clint?” He asked her and Natasha’s expression became more pained even as she tried to hide it behind her usual expressionless mask. 

“He’s taken to the shadows. Lives in hiding, is hunting down and killing criminals, he’s not even bothering to hide his M.O. He doesn’t care if he’s caught, doesn’t care if he’s killed, he’s just given up.” There was genuine sorrow in Natasha’s voice and on her face. Clint was the closest Natasha had to a brother, his wife and children where her family, the only children she would ever have thanks to what those bastards in the Red room had done to her, mutilating her body and preventing her from ever having a family of her own. 

“I’m sorry.” Tony said, reaching across the table and clasped Natasha’s hand, he held it loosely, giving her the option of pulling away. She stiffened for a moment before she relaxed and let him offer her this comfort. 

“Even if I find him, how do I help him?” She asked, “How does someone get over this? To lose a spouse is bad, it’s painful and difficult. To lose a child is devastating, but to lose your wife and your children? It’s impossible to comprehend.”

Tony didn’t say anything, he just held Natasha’s hand, letting her talk, letting her share the pain she was feeling and trying to live with. 

“I was jealous of him at times, you know?” Natasha said meeting Tony’s eyes, “I was jealous that he had found real love, had a good woman who accepted and loved him, had a beautiful family, all the things I could never have. Even if I were to find someone to settle down with, I could never have a family with them and I envied Clint for that.”

“Sometimes I would imagine what my Son or Daughter would look like, I’d picture them as new borns, as children, as teenagers. As Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. I’d even make up names for them in my head. When I babysat for Laura and Clint, I would sometimes pretend that Cooper, Lila, and Nate were my own, and as much as they had made me a part of the family, I would wish for a family of my own.” Natasha paused and ran her free hand over her cheeks, brushing away the few tears that had fallen there, “Now I think that maybe I am lucky.” She said bitterly. “What I don’t have I at least didn’t have to suffer losing.”

“But you did loose.” Tony said, “Laura, the children. They were your family too and you did loose them just as much as Clint.”

Natasha held his gaze, her eyes shining with tears that she wouldn’t shed, “I can’t think that way.” She whispered, “Because if I do, if I let myself give into that then I won’t be able to carry on.” She drew in a deep breath and wiped her eyes, forcing away the grief and put her mask back in place. 

“So, what about you and James then, what are your plans?” 

Tony let her change the subject, it had been a big show of trust on Natasha’s part for her to show that much emotion, he wouldn’t push her anymore. He took a sip of his coffee and smiled, “He’s asked me to mate with him when I’m healed.”

“Really? A full bonding ceremony too?” Natasha asked.

“We haven’t discussed that part yet, I’m not really sure if I want anything lavish to be honest. I’m not sure he would want it either.” 

Natasha nodded, “Fair enough. Although if you do decide to have a full ceremony I expect an invite and I promise my present will be spectacular.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Lemme guess, a crockpot.”

“Of course not. I’d give the two of you a fondue kit in stainless steel!”

*****

James waited with baited breath as Steve talked about everything he’d been doing since they had last spoken, rambled on about the training program he was putting himself through, showed James some of the drawings, sketches, and paintings he’d done, and spoke with far too much enthusiasm about apartment buildings in Brooklyn Heights which were now available because of the Snap and were being rented out far cheaper than they had been priced before. 

“We could get apartments on the same floor, be neighbours if you don’t want to share,” He enthused, “There is one that will give us a great view of the city, and they are spacious apartments, we won’t be cramped up or anything….”

“Steve, I need to talk to you.” James cut in before Steve could go any further.

“Sure, what’s up?” Steve asked, taking a seat on the sofa. 

James sat in the arm chair opposite him and clasped his hands together, resting them on his knees and braced himself for what was going to be a lot of shouting. 

“Tony and I are together.”

“I know.” Steve said with a shrug, “But you don’t have to keep on living at Stark Tower, you don’t owe him anything, Buck, you can move out and..”

“No Steve, we’re TOGETHER. A couple, boyfriends, lovers.” James explained, “We’ve been together for a few weeks now and I…, we wanted to tell you before you find out from the media or something.” 

Steve stared at James in silence for several moments before erupting. “You can’t be!” He bellowed, leaping to his feet, “He tried to kill you!”

“He was in shock then.” James said, “We’ve worked past all that and we’ve fallen for each-other. We love each-other.”

“Stark doesn’t do love.” Steve scoffed, “He’s a slut. He fucks anything and then tosses them to the curb.” 

James’s face darkened, “Don’t talk about my Omega like that.”

“He is not your Omega!” Steve shouted, “He’s using you, he’s a whore, he….,” Steve broke off, shaking his head, “No, he isn’t getting away with this.” And suddenly Steve was moving; he was heading towards the kitchen with a face like thunder. James hurried after him but wasn’t able to reach Steve in time before the super soldier had marched into the kitchen and punched Tony square in the face, knocking him down onto the floor. 

“You bastard!” Steve roared at Tony, grabbing him by his shirt and punching him again, “I should have known you would do this, you filthy manipulative whore!” 

With his arm and leg in a cast Tony was in no position to defend himself, not that he could outside of the suit against a super-soldier. 

“Steve Stop!” Natasha cried, 

“I won’t let you hurt Bucky, I won’t let you mess up his life like you’ve messed up everyone elses.” Steve managed to deliver a vicious kick to Tony’s abdomen before James pulled him away. He wrapped his arms about Steve’s chest and lifted him up then literally threw him across the kitchen. 

Steve hit the wall hard enough to dent it and fall into a sprawling heap on the floor. 

“Don’t you ever touch him again!” James roared, taking up a protective stance before Tony. Natasha hurried to the Omega, beginning to check him over for injuries. His nose and mouth were bleeding and one of his eyes was swelling shut with bruising. Carefully she lifted his shirt to look at his ribs and winced at the bruising starting to form there.

“Bucky he’s using you!” Steve growled, struggling back to his feet.

“I am not.” Tony protested, “I love him, I want to be mated to him and have his Pups!” 

“You do?” James asked turning to look at Tony with a surprised but delighted look on his face. Tony flushed and shrugged.

“I’m the wrong side of forty for it, but we can try.” He offered. “If you want to I mean.”

“Hell yeah, I want to. Doll I’d love to have pups with you.” James was grinning now at the thought of having a family with Tony, he bent down and helped Natasha get Tony to his feet, clucking his tongue over the bruising and blood on Tony’s face. The black widow went to the freezer and got out a bag of frozen mixed vegetables which she handed to Tony to put on his face. 

“Bucky listen to me…” Steve began but James cut him off, turning back to Steve with an angry snarl.

“No, you listen. You don’t touch my mate again, you don’t come near him, you don’t even look at him.” 

“Buck..”

“You attacked him Steve.” James continued, “A defenceless Omega, you attacked him for no reason at all. If I didn’t still hold some shred of hope for our friendship I would beat you to death for that.”

“Not defenceless.” Tony grumbled, holding the frozen veg to his face and accepted a bag of frozen chips to place over his abdomen and ribs. 

“Why can’t you just be happy for us, why can’t you support me and my choices?” James demanded of Steve.

“Because you are making the wrong choices.” Steve cried, “He is wrong for you.” He pointed at Tony who glared back at him. 

“That isn’t your decision to make.” Natasha said, “It’s James’s choice and you need to respect and accept that or you’ll lose him for good.”

Steve opened his mouth to protest then he glanced at James who was still keeping a defensive stance, ready to defend his Omega if Steve so much hinted at attacking him again. Steve’s shoulders sagged and his patented puppy dog eyes filled his face.

“I don’t want to loose you Bucky, I don’t want to see you get hurt either.” He said imploringly, “I want you to be happy, I really do.”

“I am.” James said, “With Tony. And you need to accept that. Maybe not like it or agree with it, that is your choice. But accept it and don’t interfere.” He glared at Steve, speaking silently with his eyes, letting Steve know that this was make or break. If Steve continued to argue and fight then James would take Tony and leave and this time they would not return. 

Steve grit his teeth and took several deep breaths before looking over James’s broad shoulder to where Tony was sat nursing his bruises, “If you hurt him I’ll kill you.” 

Tony glared back at Steve, “I’ll kill you before I hurt James.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Natasha said getting two more coffee cups from a cupboard and some more biscuits, “Now why don’t we all sit down and act civil?” The tone she used warned all the men present that if they didn’t do so then she would stop being civil and then they would all be in a world of pain. 

James immediately took a seat next to Tony and took the Omega’s face into his hands, examining the bruising and split lip. 

“Sorry.” Steve said begrudgingly as he took his own seat and was kicked in the shin by Natasha. 

“Just don’t do it again.” Tony said tightly.

“He won’t, if he knows whats good for him.” James growled shooting Steve a dark look that promised a world of pain. Steve nodded in agreement but his shoulders were tense and his expression mulish. He wasn’t happy about this, he wasn’t going to be happy about this, but he was at least begrudgingly accepting it and wouldn’t do anything to sabotage James’ relationship. At least James hoped he wouldn’t, because if he did, then friendship or not, that would be the end of them for good.


	15. Chapter 15

Compound

Tony and Bucky remained for another hour which was filled with a tense conversation that mostly consisted of Natasha and Tony trying to keep an even more tense silence from falling. When it came time for the Billionaire and Bucky to return to New York, the two couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

To Steve this was another sign that Tony was wrong for Bucky. 

The Bucky he knew had never wanted to be away from him, would never have run off at the first opportunity. Tony was obviously influencing him, using those big doe eyes and pouty lips to work on Bucky’s protective Alpha instincts. 

Alright, so maybe Steve shouldn’t have hit Tony, not when he couldn’t defend himself and was recovering from serious injuries, but Damnit, this was his Bucky he was thinking of and Tony was wrong for him, completely wrong. But it seemed that Steve was the only one thinking that as Natasha seemed to have inexplicably taken Tony’s side. 

“They are good together.” She said with a shrug, “They’ve both been through a lot, they both understand what it is to be tortured, to be captives, to lose everything. They have a shared history that binds them together. It could have kept them as enemies, kept them loathing one another, or at least Tony loathing James, but instead they’ve found affection for each-other, maybe even love, and considering what they’ve both been through they more than deserve some happiness.”

Understood what it was to be tortured.

What the hell did Tony know about being tortured or being captive? 

So he’d spent a few weeks in Afghanistan with terrorists, it wasn’t like he’d suffered that much, he’d looked perfectly well in the pictures on his return to America, just a few bruises and his arm in a sling. 

If he didn’t know better Steve would bet that Tony had bought his way out of captivity, the way he used his fortune to buy his way out of everything. 

That was how he’d kept his sorry ass out of prison over the whole Ultron debacle. It had gone to court, there had been a full investigation and the courts had exonerated Tony. It was obvious to Steve that Tony had paid them off, had used his army of lawyers to ensure that he never spent any time in prison, which was where he should have gone. 

His fortune had been used to smooth over things with Sokovia. They should have been baying for his blood after Ultron, after the weapons he created had been used on their country, but no, once again Stark’s lawyers and his money had made sure he continued to smell of roses while only poor Wanda had suffered. She’d been vilified by her own people, been condemned following Lagos, had been treated like she was a monster and not the traumatized child she really was. 

Seeing Tony getting his claws into Bucky like this made Steve’s blood boil. 

He knew that it would only end in misery. Tony couldn’t give Bucky what he deserved, wouldn’t even if he could because he was too selfish, too heartless, he would just use Bucky while it amused him to do so and then discard him like an old toy. 

Steve wished that Bucky would see that, would understand and do as Steve said and stay away from Tony. But Bucky was too blinded by his misplaced love. Steve could only hope that he’d come to his sense before too much longer, before Tony got the chance to get his claws any deeper into Bucky, and that Bucky wouldn’t be too hurt when it finally all blew up. 

*****

New York.

It had been quite a while since Tony had spent a heat with anyone. The last time he’d spent his heat with a partner it had been Pepper and she’d spent those days fucking him with a dildo and riding his cock as he’d writhed on the bed, lost in a haze of hormones. 

It had been many, many years since he’d had a knot inside him that wasn’t made of silicone, to have an Alpha fuck him through his heat and that did make Tony nervous. 

He wasn’t as young as he had been, not as fit or as toned. Luck, his maniac energy, and good genetics had kept him lean where most men his age were dealing with middle age spread, but he was no longer sporting the six pack of his twenties, his waist wasn’t quite as narrow, and his face had more than few lines upon it, not to mention the increasing amount of grey streaking through his hair. 

With his money he could of course have half of this dealt with through cosmetic treatments, get his lines filled, his brows lifted, his forehead frozen with botox, his hair died, and he could hire a personal trainer and dietician to get his body back to looking as it had twenty years before which would mean three or four hours a day intense gym work and living off some crazy diet that cut out half of the food he loved. 

Honestly the whole process not only sounded exhausting and as restrictive as a straight jacket to Tony, he really wasn’t too keen on having some asshole, start shoving needles full of poison into his face in the hopes of turning the clock back by a few years. Besides which, his numerous scars were far more damaging to his appearance than his crows feet and smile lines were, especially the thick, gnarled circular expanse of scarring on his breast bone where the arc reactor used to be.   
There was no amount of cosmetic surgery that could undo that amount of damage, lasers might fade the scars a little but they would never get rid of it completely, it was too deep and thick to ever heal more than it already had.

Anyway, his concern over his appearance was only half of the reason that Tony was nervous. 

The other half was that he and James had not had full sex yet. 

Before now he’d been in his casts and they’d been unable to do so, now he was free of them his heat was imminent and it just seemed fitting for their first time to have intercourse to be during his heat. 

That was still not the full cause of Tony’s anxiety. The full reason for it was that he and James were going to bond. 

While Tony was ecstatic about James wanting to bond with him, he was as nervous as a virgin having their first time. 

A mating bond was more than a marriage vow, it was deeper and far more primal than an exchange of rings and vows before witnesses. It was a physical joining of two beings, an almost psychic connection would form between them, certainly an empathetic connection would be there, and it would be for life. 

Breaking a bond was almost unheard of and it was painful for both Alpha and Omega, involving the Alpha having to consume a particularly vile combination of herbs that in centuries ago were brewed into a potion where today they came in pill form. They would purge the Omega’s blood and essence from the Alpha’s body, making he or she violently sick for several days until their bodies were completely cleaned out. 

The Omega would have to endure having the mating bite mark cut into, cleaned out with astringents, to wipe away all traces of the Alpha, and finally the wound cauterized leaving them with a permanent burn scar where their bond bite had been.

Naturally this meant that very few bonds were ever broken and it was imperative that the Alpha and Omega be certain that they wanted to be bonded before they chose to mate as they did run the risk of being permanently mated to someone they might later come to loath. 

Tony was certain that he wanted the bond with James, was certain of his feelings for the Alpha, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, however long that way, but that didn’t stop him from worrying about things going wrong, about them not working out, and about a dozen other worst case scenarios as he prepared for his heat. 

James was nervous too. Taking on an Omega was a serious responsibility, or at least in his youth it had been drummed into him that it was. Back then Omegas and Beta Women didn’t work, not once they were married/bonded and became pregnant. There was no such thing as maternity leave or maternity pay back then, the Husband/Mates salary had to cover everything. In those days getting married and mating to someone hadn’t just meant spending your life with them, for the Alpha/Male Beta, it had meant that they would be responsible for providing enough money to keep a roof over their families head, to feed, clothe, and care for them, and with no or very few contraceptives available and a great deal of stigma being attached to them, large families were the norm. 

It had been drummed into young Alphas like James that mating and marriage was a responsibility and not to be considered lightly. Mating and marriage were not for fun, they were not just about getting to have sex all the time. It meant having their own home which meant rent and bills, buying food, then all too soon it would be about providing for the little ones which would come one after another, and every new mouth to feed would be another expense. 

“Wives and Mates are not for fun; they are for life.” An old Alpha had once told a young James, “You want fun boy, go down to the docks and play around with the tarts, get all that foolishness out of you before you look to settling down, that way, when it comes time to making a permanent commitment, you’ll know that your thinking with your heart and head, and not just your balls and knot.”

A crude but effective speech. James had never used to “Tarts” as the old man had put it, but he had fooled around with some of looser dames and Omegas, ones who had condoms and wanted some fun before they married and mated. 

Stevie, the prude had clucked his tongue over it, saying it made James or rather Bucky a rake, a jack-the-lad. It had been jealousy talking though, Steve had envied the ease Bucky had at getting the dames and omegas, had wished he could do so himself but had hidden that envy under disapproval and spoken of saving himself for “The One.”

Well, James didn’t know if Steve’s “One” had been Peggy Carter, he’d certainly believed she was, if Peggy herself had felt the same James didn’t know. What he did know was that Tony was “The One” for him. 

That was why this heat, this mating was going to be so special, and not just because it would be their mating, but because it was Tony. His Tony. Wonderful, maddening, impossible Tony. The Omega who had helped James find a place in this crazy modern world, helped him piece his life together, had forgiven him, given him purpose, and inexplicably fallen in love with him. 

It didn’t matter that they were not going to have the ceremony that James had imagined in his youth. A church wedding with Stevie as his best man, his friends, his Mother, his Sisters all there as he married his mate or wife. 

It didn’t matter that there was no one to throw rice as he carried Tony under the white flowered and green ribbon decorated arch that Tony had put up before their bedroom, or to wish them a fruitful bonding. It didn’t matter that they had been the ones to lay out the food and drinks at the foot of the bed to sustain them through the heat instead of their parents/siblings doing so. 

What mattered was that they were together and would be for the rest of their lives. 

*****

Tony couldn’t describe what he felt when James’ teeth sank into his bonding gland at the peak of his first bout of heat. It was such a rush of emotion and hormones that it seemed like a supernova had gone off in his body and obliterated all of his nerves. 

He almost felt like he was having an out of body experience, he was aware of his body shaking and writhing, his inner muscles clenching and trembling about James’s knot as he rode out perhaps the longest orgasm of his life. He was also aware that he was crying, that the sensations had driven him to tears and that he was babbling incoherently. While James held him tight, one had gripping his hip and the arm, the metal arm supporting Tony’s torso while his tongue lapped at the blood and reddened flesh over the bonding gland. 

When Tony did regain the use of his tongue all that came out was panted demands for James. 

“Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!” That was all that mattered to Tony now, the higher functions of his brain had shut off, all that he could comprehend was his Alpha and his knot, wanting to keep on bucking against that swollen flesh, to be ravaged and possessed by his mate, to be filled by him over and over until he was pregnant and sated. 

His mate was cruel though, was keeping him pinned down, wouldn’t let him squirm and pleasure himself on his knot, was making him lay there on his belly and feel that maddening stretch inside himself, so close and yet so far away from making him fulfilled. 

He mewled and whined letting his Alpha know his displeasure and was rewarded by a rumbling laugh and lick across his raw, sensitive bonding gland. 

“Soon pet, soon.” Was whispered into his ear. 

Not soon enough as far as Tony was concerned, but his mate was whispering to him, was petting him and urging him to rest and store his energy for later. Well, later could not come soon enough for this Omega. 

All of James’ base instincts exploded as his teeth sank into the bonding gland. Mate, claim, possess, breed. The need to do these things were all that filled his mind. Everything else fell away and all that remained was the fertile body beneath him panting and writhing, milking all that it could from his cock and knot while still begging for more. 

This body, this Omega was his now. His to fuck, to feed, to care for, to breed. Nothing else mattered but his mate, his eager and frisky mate, who moaned in displeasure when he was made to lay still conserve his energy, wanting to play and have fun instead of resting before the next wave of heat hit. But James’ Alpha knew better, knew that the best thing for the Omega was to rest, lest his energy be used up too soon. It also increased the chances for conception if the Omega lay quiet and still save when the peaks of heat hit, and James would breed his mate, was going to fill him before this heat was over. His Alpha was practically growling with the need to do so, and purred with contentment at the thought of their new mate round and heavy with a litter. 

His mate whined and wriggled, trying to use friction and bucking his hips to encourage the Alpha to play, earning himself a nip on the ear. The cheeky minx only squirmed all the more, forcing James to pin him down which of course made his cock sink deeper, exactly what the Omega had wanted, cunning little devil. Oh his mate was perfect for him, and he couldn’t wait for the next peak to hit.


	16. Chapter 16

Tony awoke feeling deliciously sore and bruised. His skin was stinging as if he had been mauled by an animal of some sort. Well, he had been, James was a beast. A wonderfully wicked beast who had left Tony’s skin decorated in bites and bruises from their passion. His insides were aching from over stimulation, he felt stretched, pummelled, and filled to the point that he was sure that there was not a single part of himself that James had not completely claimed. 

Stretching and feeling his joints pop, Tony rolled over onto his side and smiled at the sight of James slumbering besides him. 

In sleep James looked completely harmless, completely incapable of the wicked acts he had been committing in the days before. It was quite a disguise, the peaceful, rough around the edges, Brooklyn boy. A charmer, an old-fashioned gentleman who opened doors, pulled out chairs, and rose from the table for Omega’s and Beta Women. Little would anyone know that under that guise a passionate brute lay in waiting, ready to ravage unsuspecting Omegas and leave them utterly wrecked and wrung out. 

Tony chuckled in amusement; it had been a long, long time since he had felt this well fucked by anyone. Pepper had been good, she had satisfied him, but she had not left him feeling so completely owned and claimed. 

Speaking of claimed. Tony felt the claiming bite still fresh and raised on the back of his neck. The skin still red and rigid having not had the time to heal yet, especially when his new Alpha had been licking and nibbling on it for five days. 

Five days in heat. That was a record for Tony who usually only had three or four days in heat, a full five was unexpected, it also spoke of a very potent bond, a perfect match if such a thing was real. The romantics called this Soul Mates, a Soul Bond. There was no proof to back up such claims, no science, but people had liked to wax poetic about it never the less. 

What felt less than romantic right now was the damp and sticky bed sheets that stank of sweat and sex. Well, the entire room stank of sweat and sex, as did Tony’s own body and James’. 

Giving his Alpha a gentle kiss on the cheek Tony got himself to his feet, wincing at the pain between his legs and the soreness of his inner thighs as he made his way to the bathroom. Standing before the sink he spent several moments looking at himself in the mirror. 

He looked different somehow. He couldn’t put his finger on it, not really. His skin was the same, his face was the same, his hair…, maybe it was because he felt different he thought that he could see some physical change to his person. 

Swiftly he brushed his teeth and then took several minutes washing and shaving his face before he got into the shower setting it as hot as he could stand to ease the ache out of his muscles. While he was washing his hair the door to the shower opened and James came in looking like the cat who had gotten the cream. 

“I’m not sure there is enough room for the two of us and your pride in here.” Tony teased poking James in the chest, “If you puff up much more you’ll burst.”

James chuckled and grabbed Tony’s hand and kissed his fingers, “Can an Alpha not show his pleasure at the sight of his mate?” he looked Tony over approvingly, “And you are most pleasing to the eye.”

Tony snickered and tossed a sponge at James, “Since you want to ogle me, you can do me a favour and scrub my back.”

****

Once the two of them had finished washing the put on some comfortable clothing and headed out into the city to get a good meal, the both of them being hungry after such a long heat. 

Unable to bear anything upon his bonding gland, Tony cut the neck from a long sleeved t-shirt leaving his neck and shoulders exposed, the fresh bite mark clear to see for anyone to chose to look; and plenty of people looked, nudging those next to them and whispering into their ears while scrabbling for their phones to snap a photo and post it on social media. 

“I’ll bet you twenty bucks our bonding is in the paper by tomorrow morning.” Tony said eagerly downing his first coffee in five days. They had gone to a diner and ordered practically the entire breakfast menu despite it being mid-afternoon. 

“It’ll be all over social media and we’ll be being pestered for interviews and exposes on our relationship.” 

“Do you want to do one?” James asked finishing his own coffee and tapped the tabletop impatient for the food to arrive. He was starving hungry and couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into some eggs and bacon. 

Tony wrinkled his nose, “Not really. I wouldn’t mind posting something online, but I don’t want to pose for cameras and answer two dozen questions for some magazine or gossip rag.”

“Good, I don’t either.” James said glancing behind them to the counter, as he did he caught sight of several other patrons in the diner looking their way and swiftly averting their gaze when he had glanced over as they tried to hide the fact that they had been staring. 

Tony’s phone beeped and glanced down at it, snorting when he saw the text was from Bruce. 

“Congratulations. Name the first one after me. BB.”

“Not a chance, thanx Bruciebear.” Tony text back. A few moments later an annoyed text came from Rhodey. 

“I am getting inundated with DMs asking me to confirm your relationship status with James.” Rhodes grumped, “Did you have to show your neck off to the entire planet and not warn me to switch off all digital devices first?”

Grinning Tony text back, “Sorry Sourpatch I’ll give you a heads up next time.”

“What next time?”

“When we go baby shopping of course. Lol, you think the DM’s are bad now, how about in a few months when we’re snapped going into a baby supplies store.”

“I hate you so much.” 

Tony sent a laughing smiley to Rhodey and put his phone in his pocket just as the food arrived. 

For several minutes neither he nor James spoke as they worked on sating their hunger, it was only after they’d both eaten a plateful each and were moving onto pancakes, French toast, and waffles, that they spoke, with James clucking his tongue at the amount of syrup Tony was pouring over his food and he shoved the plate of chopped fruit at the Omega. 

“That much sugar isn’t good for you, if you want sweetness get it from the fruit not from that cavity causing rubbish.”

“But the cavity causing rubbish tastes better.” Tony whined, but did add some melon and strawberries to his plate. “Why are you suddenly so concerned with my diet, worried I’m going to start losing my looks?” he rose an eyebrow and shot a half grin at James, who snorted, 

“Hardly. I’m just thinking of the pups.”

It was either epically bad timing, or James wanted to cause an internet meltdown, because the moment he spoke of them having Pups, a couple of Betas in their early twenties were going past them, their phones already out as they updated social media about Tony and James’ bonding. One of the betas spat out the mouthful of takeaway coffee he had been drinking, and began to suffer a coughing fit while one of the others patted his back, the third, a female Beta furiously typed away on her phone while looking Tony over with wide eyes, as if trying to see a baby bump. 

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “When the internet gets broken, I am blaming you.” He told his far too smug mate. Yeah, it wasn’t epically bad timing, James was just a little shit.

*****

Star Crossed Mates.

Winter is coming for Tony Stark.

Tony Stark Mated at last. 

Mated and Pregnant?

Is Stark soon to be pushing a pram? 

The headlines of every newspaper that was still functioning were all full of James and Tony’s mating by the following morning, just as Tony had predicted. Several were also speculating that he was pregnant thanks to James’ ill timed comment. 

“….While both Stark and Barnes have confirmed that they are mated with social media posts, neither have confirmed or denied the rumours that they are expecting a litter. However sources state that James Buchanan Barnes was heard to be showing concern over his Mates diet because of “The Pups”

While this may have just been a comment made to urge Stark to consider adopting a healthy diet in preparation for a pregnancy, it may also mean that Stark is already expecting a Litter.”

“….Tony Stark is not at an ideal age to be considering starting a family. He is rapidly heading towards heat-cessation. If he and Barnes wish to have a family then they cannot afford to put it off.” 

“….Concerns over Starks diet is not unexpected. Stark is notorious for not taking care of himself, living off caffeine, alcohol, and junk food. His new Alpha will have to be very strict with him and enforce a healthy diet if they wish to have a family at all.”

Tony glared at James who didn’t even try to look contrite for his comment. 

“Do you realize that I have had Mother and Baby companies calling and asking for me to promote their products?” Tony complained, “I’ve had maternity clothing designers offering me items in return for my saying where they came from. I’ve got people on facebook offering me natural remedies for morning sickness and giving me tips on breast feeding!”

James burst out laughing at that and didn’t even bother ducking the pillow that Tony threw at him. 

“It could come in handy in a few weeks and months time.” He offered.

Tony made a disgruntled noise in his throat, “And if I’m not pregnant?” 

“Oh, you are.” James said, “After five days in heat, how could you not be?” 

Tony had to admit that was true. Unlike Beta women who had a one in four percent chance of conception if they had unprotected sex during ovulation. Omegas had a one in four percent chance of not becoming pregnant if they had unprotected sex during heat. 

However knowing that, Tony couldn’t help but to worry that he might not be pregnant, that he was too old as people were saying. He wasn’t usually bothered by his age, but in this instance his age was against him. Fertility was very much related to youth, something Tony was long past, he might still be having heats, but that wasn’t a guarantee that he could conceive, plenty of Omegas had phantom heats just before heat-cession. 

James wanted a family, he had made that clear, and Tony wanted to give it to him. But what if he couldn’t, what if his body just wouldn’t let him do so? 

Well adoption was an option and there were plenty of orphans thanks to the snap, but Tony so wanted to give James a pup of their own. The Alpha had suffered so much shit in his life, didn’t he deserve this one good thing? 

The most frustrating thing was that there was nothing Tony could do. He couldn’t force nature, he could make his body do something it was not prepared to do. All he could do was wait and hope that he wouldn’t be a complete disappointment for his new mate.

*****

Avengers Compound.

Steve just resisted the urge to shatter the computer screen as he read the digital news feed, the headlines being all about Tony and Bucky bonding and their suspected pregnancy. 

Why, why, why? 

Steve felt a burning anger in his stomach when he saw the images of Tony’s neck, indecently exposed for the world to see, bearing Bucky’s mark. God, why couldn’t Bucky see that Tony wasn’t worthy of him, that he was behaving like a common tramp, flashing his bond mark around like it was a fashion accessory. 

The picture of Tony looking so smug and self-satisfied as he sat in the diner with Bucky added to Steve’s anger. His poor friend deserved so much better than this preening, self-obsessed, brat. Christ. Tony wasn’t even showing proper etiquette to his new Alpha, wasn’t serving his food first, was just helping himself and letting Bucky do the same if the pictures were anything to go by. 

Why would Bucky do this to himself, bind himself to so unworthy a mate? 

Steve longed to go and scream at Bucky and shake him until he saw sense, but he knew from their last encounter that Bucky wouldn’t listen he was too under Starks thrall to see clearly yet. 

Yet. 

Steve had to believe that Bucky would see sense sooner or later, people around Stark tended to see the light after a certain amount of time with him and fall out of love/lust with the billionaire. Sooner or later Bucky would do the same and when that happened Steve would be there to help his friend pick up the pieces, and if there was a Pup, which was unlikely considering Starks age, but if there was, then he would help Bucky get custody and then he’d help him raise the little one, because God knows Stark wasn’t fit to be a Mother, and Steve was sure he wouldn’t even be interested in being one anyway, since it would require more of his attention than the ten minutes he gave to everything else before getting bored and moving on. 

Steve could only hope that when things did inevitably fall apart, that Bucky wouldn’t be too heart broken and would not blame himself when it would be all Starks fault. He hoped that the fallout would not be too dramatic and that it would happen sooner rather than later.


	17. Chapter 17

Three weeks PB (Post Bonding)

No bleeding. 

Omegas bleed three weeks after heat if they don’t conceive, so, was Tony pregnant? 

He studied himself in the bathroom mirror looking to changes to his body. His abdomen looked the same as ever, not as flat and firm as it had been ten years before, certainly not as toned as it had been twenty years before, but still good for an Omega of his age. His hips were no wider, his pectorals were the same, nipples the same. There was no outward sign of anything being different. 

He didn’t feel nauseous, he didn’t have a sudden aversion to eating or drinking anything, didn’t feel dizzy or tired. 

Clearly despite the lack of blood he was not pregnant. 

“I need IVF.”

Pepper glanced up from the tablet she was reading from with an arched eyebrow as Tony flung himself down into the office chair before her desk and immediately began to fiddle with the stress balls she had swinging. 

“Good morning to you too, Tony. I am very well, thank you for asking. Can I help you at all since you have come barging into my office at…” She paused and glanced at the computer screen, doing a double take when she saw the time, “At nine am, are you feeling alright? You don’t normally surface from bed until gone ten!”

“Ha ha.” Tony grumbled and slumped back into his seat, “I’m not pregnant.” He sat folding his hands over his abdomen.

“I see. You’ve taken a test then.”

“No. but I don’t have any symptoms.” Tony sighed, “I haven’t bled so clearly my body has decided to start Heat-cessation, despite my only just bonding with an Alpha. Which is totally unfair of it, nature clearly hates me and wants me to suffer.” 

“Wait,” Pepper held up a hand, setting down her tablet and stylus, “You haven’t bled?” She didn’t even cringe about the TMI, she was used to TMI with Tony, after nearly twenty years of working with him and having had a relationship with him, there was nothing about him that she was not familiar with. 

“Yes, aren’t you listening?” Tony cried in exasperation, “Obviously since I am not pregnant, this is the first sign of heat-cessation, and, because James and I want kids, I’ll need to have IVF.”

“Tony…”

“If we start right away then maybe they can harvest some eggs that I might still have left. Although probably not, we’ll probably need an eggs donner, would you be willing to do that for us? If you don’t feel comfortable, I’ll totally understand so don’t feel obligated or anything. 

I suppose I’ll have to start hormone therapy. I hope I don’t get too many side effects from it, I’ve read that it can be brutal, but if the end result is a cute pup then it’ll all be worth it.”

“Tony….”

“I need to compile a list of clinics. The ones with the best success rates. If we have to go down the full IVF route and get Donner eggs and everything then it’ll probably make sense to keep a couple of embryos on ice so I can give the little one a brother or sister in the future…”

“Tony Stop!” Pepper slammed both palms down on the table, making the desk shake. 

Tony shut his mouth with a snap and stared at Pepper waiting for her to speak again. Pepper drew in a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke and used a gentle but authoritative tone of voice. 

“Tony, you don’t need IVF. What you need to do is to go and buy a pregnancy test, or book an appointment with your doctor and get one done.”

“Pepper, haven’t you been listening, I’m not…”

“You might be.” Pepper said cutting him off, “Just because you haven’t started developing other symptoms doesn’t mean that you aren’t pregnant.”

Tony scoffed, “I’m not. I would know it if I was. I’d have some symptoms, something would be different.”

“Well you being up and dressed at nine am is different.”

“I needed to pee! I always need to pee.” Tony made a dramatically disgusted face, “Great, I’m developing bladder weakness, that’s a sign of old age.”

“It’s a sign of pregnancy too.”

“Oh shut up.” Tony grumbled getting to his feet, “I’m not pregnant I’m old, and if you are not going to help me find IVF clinics then……,” He flailed at Pepper who just smirked back at him, “Just be a C.E.O.” He finished lamely and spun on his heel heading for the office door. 

“A pleasure as always Mr Stark. Please call her Virginia.”

“Bite me Miss Potts.” Tony threw over his shoulder, “And I am not pregnant.” 

Pepper snorted as the office door closed, “He’s pregnant.”

*****

Week four PB

Tired, tired, tired. Tony couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this tired. It didn’t seem to matter how much he slept, his body just seemed to want more and more sleep.   
He had no energy at all, couldn’t concentrate, felt lethargic from the second he opened his eyes to the moment he closed them again. 

“Maybe I need a diabetes test.” He mused to Dumm-E as the bot handed him a smoothie, “I’m old…er, older now. I might be heading towards type two diabetes and fatigue and increased peeing are symptoms.”

The bot beeped at him and turned his camera lens as if considering this. 

“Yeah, we’ll have to be more careful on the amount of sugar I consume. Including sugar in fruits.” Tony said and raised the cup to his lips, he took a sip and promptly spat it back into the cup, “Dumm-E did you use yoghurt that has turned bad again?” The bot beeped a denial but Tony shoved the cup away. 

“Gross and I do not need salmonella to go with diabetes and old age.”

“The yoghurt is in date Bossman.” Friday informed him. 

“It isn’t it tastes gross.” Tony said and yawned widely, “God I’m tired. Why am I so tired all the time?”

“Early stages of pregnancy can cause fatigue and a change in taste.” Friday offered and Tony glared at the nearest camera. 

“Don’t you start missy, I have enough of that from Pepper. I’m not pregnant.”

*****

Week Five PB

“Are you alright, normally you can’t get enough of cheese burgers.” Rhodey asked as Tony shoved away his barely touched burger. 

“The cheese tastes off.” Tony said with a heavy sigh, “I think I’m becoming lactose intolerant. Yoghurt and cheese are all tasting weird to me right now.”

“Uh-huh.” Rhodey narrowed his eyes at Tony, “I don’t think lactose intolerance works like that.”

“Well there is no other explanation.” Tony said picking at his chips, “Unless its part of the diabetes.”

“Diabetes?” 

“Yeah I’m getting tested. I’ve got some symptoms, fatigue, peeing all the time. I figured I’d get tested, the Doctor’s running a full blood screen.” A look of sadness flickered over Tony’s face, “I’m getting a hormone test done too. To confirm heat-cessation.” 

“You think you’re in heat-cessation.”

“Duh. Its been five weeks and I still haven’t bled.”

“Right…and you don’t think its something else?” Rhodey asked.

“What else could it be?” 

Rhodey gave Tony a disbelieving look, “If you can’t figure it out with your IQ, then I’m not going to be the one to tell you.”

*****

Week Six PB.

“I knew those eggs were off.” Tony grumbled, cleaning his teeth after throwing up his breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. 

“They were fine. I’m not being sick.” James said watching Tony from the door.

“Well you have the super-soldier metabolism. Your stomach is like cast iron or something.” Tony said waiving a hand in James’ direction. He dried his face off on a towel and grimaced at his pale complexion and dark circled eyes. “I look like crap and I feel like crap.” 

“You don’t, you look fine.” James said, crossing the bathroom and pulled Tony into his arms, turning him around so they were facing each-other. Tony winced and leaned away rubbing at his chest. “You okay?”

“Yeah fine, I think I pulled a muscle or something.” Tony said with a shrug. He stifled a yawn into his hand, “At least I’ll get my test results today.” He said tiredly, “Hopefully the doctor will know whats wrong and I can start treatment right away.”

“You really think it’s diabetes?” James asked, continuing to hold Tony’s hand as the Omega pulled away, heading for the door.

“I don’t know what else it could be, expect maybe anaemia.”

“Right.” James said softly snorting and wondering how someone has smart as Tony could be so dumb.

******

“Congratulations Mr Stark-Barnes, you are pregnant.”

Tony gaped at the Doctor who presented him and James with the results of his blood tests. James let out an enthused laugh and grinned at Tony. The Omega shook his head, “That’s…. I can’t be.” 

“You are.” The Doctor said, “The hormone levels confirm it. The date of your last heat was six weeks ago, so you are half way through the first trimester.”

Tony continued to shake his head, “But I have no symptoms.”

“Well not everyone experiences classic symptoms.”

“You do have symptoms Doll.” James said, smiling softly as Tony’s head snapped around to look at him, “You’ve been tired all the time. You’re always needing the toilet, you can’t stand yoghurt or cheese, and you were sick this morning.”

Tony screwed up his face, “The eggs were off.”

“You were also balling your eyes out at Angel getting sent to hell in Buffy two nights ago.”

“It’s a heart breaking moment.”

“You also have sore breasts.”

“I do no…” Tony cut himself off as he cupped his pecs to prove a point, but instead felt the same tenderness he’d been feeling earlier, “But I…I thought…” He inhaled sharply and his eyes went wide, “Oh my God I’m pregnant!” 

“Indeed you are.” The Doctor confirmed, “Six weeks, going by your last heat. I will schedule you for a scan two weeks from now and I’ve prescribed a course of pregnancy vitamin supplements for you to take.” He handed Tony a script which James ended up taking as Tony was to busy trying to decide whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Is there anything we need to be doing or not doing?” James asked the Doctor, giving Tony’s arm a squeeze of support. 

“Avoid alcohol, large amounts of caffeine, no raw meats or eggs, shellfish, and go easy on junk food. Other than that you should be fine.” 

“Alright Doctor, Thank you.” James said, shaking the mans hand. He had to collect the appointment for the first ultrasound as Tony was still catatonic, he half carried the Omega down to the car and got him into the passenger seat. It was only when he was about the start the car engine that Tony started responding again. 

“I’m pregnant!”

“Yes!” James laughed, his laughter was short lived as he saw Tony had started to cry. “Oh baby, what…?”

“No, its happy tears.” Tony said wiping his cheeks and choked out a wet laugh, “Or hormone tears.” He was grinning despite the crying, “We’re having a baby!”

“We are Doll. We are.” James said, taking Tony’s hands and gripped them tightly, “Our first baby.” 

“We can’t tell anyone. Not yet. Not until we’re past the twelve weeks mark.” Tony said drying his eyes and James scoffed, turning the key in the ignition and started the car. 

“Honey, Pepper and Rhodey have already figured it out.”

“Well no one else then.” Tony said as they pulled out into traffic, “Our little bun has only just gone into the oven, he or she is only just starting to bake, and I don’t want to share our….cooking success with others just yet.” He cringed at the analogy, “And don’t ever repeat my word choices there.”

“Believe me I won’t.” James readily agreed, “And I won’t tell anyone until we’re both ready to do so,” He snickered, “Mums the word?” 

“So lame, but yes, Mums the word, for now.”


	18. Chapter 18

It only took Tony a week to start wishing that he was still clueless about his pregnancy, because now he knew, his body took it as a sign that it was perfectly okay to throw all the symptoms of pregnancy at him in fell swoop. 

Morning sickness, what a joke, more like all day and all night sickness, with constant nausea, heartburn, and trapped wind thrown in for added misery. (Not to mention the fact that his farts were now evil) Well, James said they were but Tony refused to acknowledge this piece of information, after all, he was suffering so why shouldn’t James have to suffer with him. 

The tiredness that had been plaguing him since his fourth week was still present. Tony could barely keep his eyes open after ten pm and would find himself easily sleeping for up to ten hours, interrupted only by the need to pee. That was no better either, he was still running to the loo all the time as his bladder seemed to permanently full. 

He could not longer eat anything containing cheese, his beloved cheese burgers were now off the menu, along with pizza, cheesy pasta dishes, and pretty much all the food that Tony loved he could no longer stomach. 

He had no cravings yet but he was secretly hoping to get some really complicated ones that would have James running around the city in the middle of night to try and find some obscure food item. 

His hormones were definitely having a nervous breakdown or developing bipolar, since they seemed to be having his moods swinging from one extreme to another without any warning at all. One minute he’d be completely calm and relaxed, then the next he’d be balling his eyes out over something completely insignificant, or screaming at a bemused James because he’d left his socks on the floor instead of putting them in the wash basket again, and then once the rage had passed he’d be falling over himself trying to make things up to James, then he’d be panicking because they were out of milk, which for some reason had Tony convinced that they would fail as parents, and that of course led back to the crying once again. 

Adding on his sore nipples, aching pectoral muscles, and permanent case of bloating, Tony was hating his pregnancy and was more than happy to take out his misery on anyone that was unfortunate enough to be nearby. 

“I’m sure you’ll feel better soon, Doll.” James assured him, rubbing his back soothingly while Tony sipped at mint tea and waited for the antacids to work on his heartburn. “The books say that the symptoms ease during the second trimester.”

Oh yeah, the books. Tony might over gone a little overboard on the book orders, getting everything from What to expect when you are expecting, to Pregnancy for Dummies. He’d also bought several books of baby names and Caring for a new-born books. 

“Yeah, but then it’ll be stretch marks, leaking nipples, piles, varicose veins, and swollen ankles.” Tony grumbled, “Not to mention the ever expanding waistline and increasing weight.”

“But its all worth it in the end.” James said and cooed at a picture of a grinning baby, “Just look how cute that is. What do you think of the name Louis?”

“That we are not naming our Kid it.” Tony deadpanned, “It’s the Jungle Books fault, I hear the name Louis and all I can think of a giant ape singing and dancing. In fact, Disney has a lot to answer for when it comes to ruining names, when I hear the name Ursula all I can think of is a giant octopus!”

James snorted picked up the tablet, scrolling through the documents to where they had made their ever growing list of items to buy for the baby. 

“When do you want to start working on getting this stuff and setting the nursery?” He asked Tony, “We’ve a lot to get and a lot to get ready so we shouldn’t leave it too long.”

“Not until after the twelve week scan.” Tony said, “I want to know that everything is okay before we start to do anything. Although…”

“Although?” James asked. 

Tony sighed and looked around the penthouse, “I’m not sure if I want to stay here to have the baby. I’m not sure I want to raise a family in the city. I think I’d rather be outside of the City where there’s less pollution, less noise and traffic. Some place cleaner and quieter, and safer.”

He looked to James who had a thoughtful expression on his face, “What do you think?” He asked. 

“I think you may have a point.” James agreed, he’d never dreamed of raising a family in a city, not the way Steve had always dreamed of returning to Brooklyn and settling down there and having a family in the same place he’d grown up. James had always dreamed of living outside of New York, or outside of any City, a growing community which the children would no doubt grow up to hate as adolescents because it wasn’t as exciting as a City and there weren’t as many places to go, but the adults would love it because of the low crime rates, the general relaxed atmosphere, and the abundance of fresh air and quiet that one could never find in a City. 

The realist in him had always assumed that this kind of dream was unlikely to happen, he’d never come from money, didn’t have the prospects of getting the kind of employment that would lead to a fat pay check, so unless he’d married into money, he had kind of figured that he’d be raising a family in one of the tenements in the city and making the best of it. 

Tony however had enough money for them to move anywhere, they could buy a house or buy land and have one built for them, with the kind of money Tony had the options were endless. 

“So you’d be okay with moving then?” Tony asked, “Even out of the state?”

“Sure, if you want. Do you want to move out of the state?” James asked, “I would have thought you’d want to be close to Pepper.”

“I do.” Tony said, “But I’m just considering options. “I wouldn’t mind remaining in New York State though, there are some lovely properties and land around the City we can look at before we decide anything.”

“We can’t take too long deciding though.” James pointed out, “We’ll need to be in and settled before you start nesting.”

Tony wrinkled his nose, “I might not nest, I might not be the nesting type.”

“Sure, just as you haven’t had every other symptom of pregnancy so far.” 

“God I hope I get to send you looking for fresh sushi or baklava at three am, I really want you to suffer with me.”

******

All of the symptoms remained as the last few weeks of the first trimester passed. Tony and James suffered through it, (James suffered when it came to Tony’s hormonal melt downs) 

Tony had his realtor looking for properties for them and they went to view several before they fell in love with a cabin besides a lake in the Hudson Valley. At present the cabin was too small, having only one bedroom and a box room that was more for storage than as a second bedroom, but there was plenty of space to build and Tony easily got the permits to expand the property which was estimated to be ready for them to move in once he was in his eighth month and as all the decorating would be done before they moved in, everything would be ready and waiting for them, all they would have left to do would be to add the finishing touches. 

James promised himself that he wouldn’t cry when they saw the foetus on the monitor during the scan, he promised himself that he would grin and cheer at the sight of his Son or Daughter, but he wouldn’t burst into tears. He’d be cool, he’d be the strong and proud Alpha seeing his pup for the first time. 

But. He. Would. Not. Cry.

However the moment the fuzzy image came up on the screen with the tiny dot that the Sonographer said was the heart, beating away. James couldn’t stop the tears that filled his eyes and started to spill down his cheeks.

“Oh you, big sap, it’s meant to be me that starts crying.” Tony said affectionately shoving at James. His eyes were suspiciously shiny though as he looked back at the screen. “Is everything….”

“Perfect.” The Sonographer said, “Absolutely perfect for this stage of development.” Tony beamed and let out a relieved sigh at that, looking down at the tiny bulge he was now sporting in his lower abdomen. 

“Can you tell if it’s a boy or girl yet?” James asked, “Not that it matters, although it might make choosing a name easier.”

“I’m afraid not yet.” The Sonographer said, taking away the wand and handed Tony some tissue to clean the gel off his abdomen with. “We can usually tell at twenty weeks if the baby is in the right position and doesn’t have their legs crossed.”

“I’m not sure I want to know.” Tony said, wiping at the sticky gel, “I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, just so long as their healthy.” He glanced at James “Unless you’d really like to know?”

James shook his head, “No, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just get a gender neutral theme for the nursery. Maybe one of the super cutesie ones like the Whinnie the Pooh one.”

“With Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. We can get the stuffed toys too. Oh my God, can you imagine reading the stories to our Pup in a few months time?”

Clutching the sonogram photos, James and Tony headed back out to the car, with Tony texting Pepper and Rhodey to let them know that everything had gone fine and that the Pup was perfect, he also snapped a picture of the sonogram and sent a copy to Rhodey who text back a huge thumbs up followed by a joking message asking if Tony was pregnant with a jellyfish as that was what the scan kind of looked like. 

Pepper was better, although she got tearful as she held the image, sniffing and having to dab at her eyes to avoid a make-up disaster. 

“I assume that now you know that everything is alright you will be announcing the pregnancy?” She asked sniffing again and surreptitiously snapped a copy of the sonogram herself for her phone. 

“Yeah, well, about that…” Tony said glancing at James who looked just as awkward. 

“We’re, or rather I am going to tell Steve first.” James explained to Pepper. “We figured he’d react better if he heard it from me than if he found out on social media.”

“Will you be going to the compound?” Pepper asked Tony. She had heard about what had happened when Steve had learned of their relationship and she was not prepared to let Tony get attacked again, especially now he was pregnant. Although only a suicidal person would dare to attack a pregnant Omega, their Alpha’s instinct to protect their mate and offspring would make them kill the attacker without hesitation. Pepper would not put it past Rogers to be stupid enough to try it though. 

She was relieved when Tony shook his head. “I thought I’d keep my distance and let them have their Alpha bonding time.” 

“Alpha bonding time, what do you think we do, compare Knot sizes?” 

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Pepper said dismissively, “You lot think with them most of the time.” She turned to Tony, leaving James gaping at her, stinging over the burn she’d just delivered him while Pepper ignored him completely. “Well, while they are having their pissing contest or whatever it is they will do. How about we have a pampering session, the salon I go to, to get my brows and nails done offer a pregnancy spa treatment, with facial, manicure, pedicure, and massage therapy.”

“Hmm sounds like bliss.” Tony said with a dreamy smile. His lower back had been twinging and he’d been getting sciatica off and on so a massage would be greatly welcomed. 

“We’ll make a day of it.” Pepper said, “Pampering session first, then lunch out, I know bar that serves some delicious non alcoholic cocktails and has a superb lunch menu, and we can finish the day off with some shopping. You’ll be needing maternity clothes sooner or later so you might as well get some ready, and we can start buying for my niece or nephew.”

“Okay, you’re on.” Tony agreed then wrinkled his nose, “I don’t want anything floral or striped or with pokadots, and why do they make maternity clothing with horizontal stripes? Its not like you need anything that’s going to make you look bigger.”

“You’ll look perfect in anything you wear.” James said getting a beaming smile from both Pepper and Tony. 

“He’s perfect.” Pepper said.

“I know.” Tony replied, “Aren’t you jealous?”

“Seething with it!”

*****

Compound.

With Tony safely in Pepper’s hands and headed for a day of pampering and shopping, James went up to the compound. 

Natasha was out, she’d gotten a lead on Clint and was going to check it out leaving just Steve at the facility. He’d been jogging the perimeter when James arrived and greeted him enthusiastically, insisting on cooking them both a hearty brunch. 

James had already eaten a good breakfast but thanks to his super soldier metabolism he could always eat again and certainly wouldn’t say no to scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and toast. 

“So how are you, hows…everything?” Steve asked, once they’d finished assembling the food and had sat down to eat. 

“Great.” James replied honestly, “Couldn’t be better.” Steve eyed him as if he were trying to see signs of a lie. “Actually, we’re moving, or will be in a few months time when the house is ready.” James added scooping a forkful of scrambled eggs up, “We’ll be going to living in the Hudson Valley. We’ve found a beautiful place besides a lake, no neighbours for a mile in each direction.”

“Why would you want that?” Steve asked cutting James off, “Why would want to leave New York, you love New York.” A scowl knitted together his eyebrows, “This is Stark isn’t it? He’s making you move. Damnit Buck, you can’t let him do this. He might be your Omega but that doesn’t mean he gets to tell you what to do or where to live.”

“Whoa, hold up, this isn’t just Tony’s decision.” James said, “This was a joint decision we both made.”

“But you love New York!”

“You love New York, you mean.” James corrected, “You love Brooklyn and want to live there again. I’ve always wanted to live outside of a City, I just never thought I’d get the chance to do so.” Steve didn’t look convinced and James sighed pushing away his plate and slipped his left hand into his pocket, taking hold of the sonogram photo. “I was hoping for a better lead in than this, but I guess…” He took the photo from his pocket and handed it across the table to Steve. 

Steve frowned glancing down at the sonogram, he knew what it was of course, but this was the first time he’d actually held one. “Is this…”

“Mine and Tony’s Son or Daughter.” James said unable to keep the grin from his face.

Steve stared at the sonogram, at the fuzzy image that was a developing life, a life that Bucky had created. Created within Stark’s body. 

Had this been with any other Omega then Steve would have already been congratulating Bucky, but this was not any Omega, this was Tony Stark. Alcoholic, middle aged, Tony Stark.

“Is… do they know if…”

“No.” Bucky said cutting Steve off and Steve felt his heart skip a beat as worry began to seep into him, “They can’t tell the sex until twenty weeks, but we’re not going to find out anyway because we don’t care what the sex is. But you can just about see the little heart beating.” He leaned over the table and pointed to a dark blob in the image, “There, that’s the heart, and that bit is the head. The next scan will have a better image, he or she is still really tiny right now.”

“And they are healthy?” Steve hedged. 

“Perfect.” Bucky enthused, “Tony was worried because of his age putting him at a greater risk of complication, but, as you can see, everything is perfect. Or it will be when the morning sickness and other early pregnancy symptoms clear up.” Bucky looked sympathetic, “He’s had it rough over the last six weeks, we’re hoping that with the first trimester out of the way he’ll start to feel better soon.”

Relieved that the baby was healthy Steve handed the sonogram picture back to Bucky, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He asked, “You must have been worried too. I could have helped you, and a Hormonal Stark can’t be easy to deal with.”

Bucky snorted, “If it isn’t tears then its shouting, if it isn’t shouting it’s panicking, and then it’s back to tears again. He’s at least not started craving anything weird yet, but I’m sure I’ll be making two and three am food runs soon enough.”

“Don’t let him walk all over you. He may be pregnant but he can still wait on himself.” Steve said then grinned, “I’ll bet it’ll be a Son. An Alpha Son, A strong handsome lad that’ll just as much of a charmer as you were back in the day.”

Bucky snorted, “I don’t care, I’d be happy with a Girl, or an Omega or Beta. We’re trying to think of baby names but all we’ve managed so far is to veto Ursula and Louis.”

“I’m so happy for you Buck.” Steve said, “Your first Pup. Oh I can’t wait to meet him and start playing with him, we can teach him to play ball, to ride a bike, and he can have all the things we couldn’t have when we were kids.”

“It still might not be a boy.” Bucky said, “And it’ll be a while before we can do any of that.” 

“But we will do it.” Steve said, “We’ll do it all Buck, your kid is going to have the best of everything, and I promise I’ll be the best Uncle to him in the world.”


	19. Chapter 19

The media went wild with the news that Tony was pregnant, which was nothing compared to social media which just about had a complete melt down. 

Photo shopped images of a pregnant Iron Man suit were posted, images of Tony and James holding a baby whose image had been taken from various movies were made, their faces were shopped in over the faces of actors during birth scenes, there was in one which went viral it was so cute, of a baby sized Iron Man in a Moses basket. 

Naturally all the magazines and paper’s wanted an interview with the expectant parents, but Tony and James refused to grant this, just issuing the statement; 

“We are very happy to be expecting our first Pup. Both Tony and the Pup are very healthy and we are looking forward to meeting our Son or Daughter in a few months time”

On her return to the compound having failed to locate Clint, Natasha sent her regards to Tony and James along with name suggestions of Natasha, Natalie, Natalia, Talia, and Tasha. 

None of which were added to growing list of potential baby names which both Tony and James were adding to and either putting a tick or a cross by names if they liked them or not. 

“What’s wrong with Wilhelmina?” James asked seeing the three crosses that Tony had put besides the name, “Or Mildred, Albert, Gerald, Donald?”

Tony looked up from the sofa where he was trying to balance a can of ginger beer on his belly, only the growing bump wasn’t quite prominent enough for it just yet and the can kept tipping over. 

“What’s right with them?” He shot back, “And Donald? I know two Donald’s. One is a super villain called Blizzard, the other is Donald fucking Trump and I hate that guy.” He held up a hand, “Three, I know three Donald’s, Donald the fucking Duck.”

James supposed Tony had point there, especially in regards to Donald Trump, so he ran a line through the name. “What about the rest?” 

“They suck.” Tony replied, “No one below ninety is names Mildred, Gerald sounds like the name of middle aged business man, with a comb over to hide his bald spot, wearing a too tight suit, and trying to juggle, an ex-wife and kids, a present wife and kids, and a mistress on the side.  
Albert makes me think of Albert the Fifth Musketeer.” At James’ confused look Tony explained, “Children’s cartoon show, I’ll have Friday play some episodes, they are pretty funny.”

“And Wilhelmina?” James asked on a deep exhale.

“Is hideous. No, no, and hell no, and just for extra measure, Fuck No!” Tony yelped as the can tipped completely and his T-Shirt became soaked in cold liquid. James grinned considering it karma and vindictively vetoed a couple of Tony’s suggestions. 

His kid was not being called, Destiny, Saxon, Mitchel, or Liberty.

The howl of rage that ached through the penthouse later when Tony discovered the Vetoes just made it all the more pleasing. 

*****

Second Trimester.

Three mornings in a row without vomiting. Tony was nearing sixteen weeks and was more than thankful that the sickness had finally stopped, or at least appeared to be stopping. The nausea lingered but he could cope with that and soothe it with mint tea or salted biscuits. 

He’d by now learned what foods avoid as they made his stomach play up with acid heart burn. No onion cooked or raw. No large amounts of spice or chili peppers, which meant that Indian and Mexican food was off the menu for the next five months, along with his beloved cheeseburgers and pizza. 

He was restricting himself to three cups of coffee a day and was making the effort to avoid lifting anything heavier than ten pounds in the lab, having the Bots lift it if it was over that. 

He had thought that he had gotten away with not having any odd cravings, until he couldn’t resist having fish fingers smothered in BBQ sauce for breakfast!

“Really?” James asked as he had his bacon and eggs. 

“You did this to me.” Tony said jabbing a fish finger in James’ direction, “You don’t get to complain. In fact you should be thankful I’m not smothering them in Nutella or chocolate syrup or something.”

James shuddered at the thought deciding he could live with fish fingers and BBQ sauce. 

“How about Laura?” Tony suggested as he cut up a finger and chased the sauce around the plate.

“Laura is nice, that’s a possibility.”

“Friday, put that on the agreed list.”

“Sure thing Bossman.” Friday said, “Also, Dumm-E and Butterfingers are fighting over who’s turn it is to use the mop and they have broken the mop, U is threatening them both with the blender and Dumm-E’s fire extinguisher.” 

Tony groaned and rolled his eyes, “It’s like we’ve already got triplets.” Messy, noisy, dysfunctional triplets who never grow up. “Okay Friday, I’ll be down in a few. Threaten them with Time Out and no tennis balls today if they carry on playing up.”

“Gotcha Bossman.” 

Tony finished his coffee and grabbed a couple of sheets of kitchen towel on which he placed his last few fish fingers to take with him to the lab. “You still meeting Captain douchebag?” he asked James. 

James snickered at the name, if Steve heard it then he’d definitely get riled up. “I am.” He said, “We’re meeting a Times Square.”

“Okay, just you know…”

“Don’t bring him back here, I know.” James said. Honestly, even if Tony hadn’t expressed a desire to not be around Steve while he was pregnant, James wouldn’t have wanted him near his Omega anyway. In truth he wasn’t overly comfortable having any other Alpha’s near Tony, but Steve had already been violent to him and James’ protective instincts were simply too strong to ignore. 

“Okay, well, have a good time, doing whatever it is you are going to do?” Tony narrowed his eyes at James suspiciously. He didn’t suspect anything bad, he suspected that James was going to be buying something for the baby and wanted to surprise him with it, or maybe a gift for him. 

“I will, and as I’ll be having Lunch out, Pepper is going to come up and have Lunch with you.” 

Tony rolled his eyes, “I don’t need supervising while I eat.”

“No, but you do need reminding to eat. You can mute Friday, Pepper will throw a shoe at you if you try to mute her, so she’ll be making sure you eat properly while I’m gone.”

Tony made a disgusted noise as he headed to the lift, calling over his shoulder, “You are the reason none of my pants fit!”

“I thought that was the baby.” James called back with a grin on his face. 

“It is, and it’s your fault, you and your Knot.” 

James shrugged and carried on finishing his breakfast. He had a long day ahead of him and would need his energy. 

*****

Steve was happy that Bucky wanted to meet up, he’d been keen to go to the tower and spend time with him over the last month but Bucky kept putting him off, saying that they had a lot to do, preparing to move, or Tony wasn’t feeling well, or they had to go to parenting class or Lamaze. 

Parenting Class. Steve doubted that even the most skilled of teachers could shape Tony Stark into a fit parent. 

Right now Tony would be riding the high wave, would be living the dream of having a baby and being a celebrity Mother, getting magazine deals and photo shoots, and more popularity than ever as he was a New Mother, and the first Celeb since the Snap to have a baby. 

But then reality would set in, he’d learn that Babies didn’t just look cute and lay serene in peoples’ arms, instead they screamed for hours, sometimes for no reason. They created piles of filthy nappies, needed changing ten or more times a day, needed constant attention and care.   
That level of commitment was just not something Tony Stark was capable of. He’d do it for a week, maybe a month if they were lucky, then he’d become bored, or grow frustrated when the baby wouldn’t settle because he wanted it to and he couldn’t go on one of his lab binges because he or she needed him. 

Then he’d either dump the baby on Bucky to cope with alone or hire a nanny. 

Well, if Steve knew Bucky, and he did, he knew that his friend would not allow a stranger to care for his child, so he’d try and struggle along alone. Steve would never make him feel bad by saying “I told you so.” He would simply offer his help and support so that neither Bucky or the baby suffered. 

As his name was called Steve rose from the bench he was sat on and waved a hand, waving to Bucky as the other man jogged over. 

“Hey, you ready to go?” Bucky asked him. 

“Go where?” Steve asked, “You never said what you wanted to do.”

James grinned, “That’s because I didn’t want Tony to find out.” 

Steve frowned, his alarm bells going off in his head. “Why don’t you want him to know, what’s he done, has he threatened you? Damnit, I knew he couldn’t be trusted.” Steve took a deep breath and gripped Bucky’s shoulder, “It’s okay Buck, we’ll get you out of there, and we’ll get custody of the baby too, I promise. But you are not going back there, not with Stark….

“What the hell!” Steve was cut off and his hand was jerked violently from Bucky’s shoulder as the other man shoved it away. “The hell are you on about. Tony’s done nothing.” Bucky snapped at Steve, “I didn’t want him to know what I am doing because I want it to be a surprise.”

“Oh.” Steve felt himself deflate and avoided Bucky’s scowl.

“Christ Steve, I’m trying to give you a chance here, a chance to prove that you can change, that you can be supportive.”

“I can, I am!”

“How is this supportive?” Bucky cried gesturing between them seemingly oblivious to number of people his raise voice was attracting. “I wanted you with me today to help me chose an engagement ring for Tony, because I thought that would be something we could share as friends, but once again your irrational belief that Tony is always doing something wrong has fucked that right up!”

Steve could feel his cheeks heating up and ducked his head to try and avoid having his picture taken, “I’m sorry, I just..”

“You just nothing Steve.” Bucky yelled, “God, I don’t know why I bother. I should have kicked your sorry ass to the curb when you attacked him last time.”

“I didn’t attack….” Steve broke off at Bucky’s dark look, “I’m sorry.” He said, “Let’s just go to the tower and talk about this in private.”

“You can’t come to the tower.” Bucky said. 

“What, why?” Then Steve rolled his eyes, “This is Tony isn’t it? He’s acting up, turning you against me, using his pregnancy as a weapon to…”

“So help me, if you finish that sentence I will punch you back into the twentieth century.” Bucky growled sounding more Winter soldier than Bucky Barnes. “And for your Information, the reason you can’t come to the tower is because I don’t want you there. I don’t trust you around my mate, all my instincts scream at me to keep you away from him and our unborn Pup, that’s why you can’t be there, why you won’t be in Tony’s presence until after the birth, and at this rate maybe not at all.”

“What?” Steve could see things unravelling out of control. This didn’t make sense, Bucky didn’t trust him, didn’t want him around Stark and the baby? No, this wasn’t Bucky, not his Bucky, this was…. This was something Stark had done, it had to be, that was the only explanation.

“Just go back to the compound Steve.” Bucky said in a tight voice, “I can’t even look at you right now and if we continue this then I’ll do something I’ll regret.” 

“Bucky…” Steve tried to reach out but Bucky slapped his hand away and actually growled at him, “Buck…” He whispered devastated by the feral anger in Bucky’s eyes. 

“I mean it Steve, stay away. Don’t contact me. Not for a while.”

“Bucky please, we can work this out.” Steve pleaded, terrified that if Bucky went back to the tower that he’d never see him again. 

Bucky shook his head, “We can’t. Not when you are like this.”

“Like what?” Steve threw his arms up in desperation, “What am I like?”

“Self-entitled, selfish, hypocritical, and seemingly incapable of seeing that what you are doing is wrong.” Bucky snarled at him, “And until you do, until you pull your head out of your arse I want you to stay away from me.” He half turned then paused and looked back, his eyes darkening and features turning malicious. It was the face of the Winter Soldier, cold, emotionless, merciless. Steve had seen that face before on his best friend and hoped to never see it again, especially not directed at himself. 

“You stay away from Tony too.” Bucky added in a low guttural growl, “I mean it, if you go near him, try to contact him, or threaten him in any way, then I promise that the beating I gave you on the helicarrier will be nothing compared with what I’ll do to you.” 

The threat was so vehement that Steve shivered and could do nothing but nod his head in agreement, then watch mutely as his best friend walked, or rather stalked away. 

Tears pricked at Steve’s eyes and he had to fight the urge to begin hyperventilating. This was out of control, Tony’s influence over Bucky was destroying them. It was just Steve feared, Tony was manipulating Bucky, turning him against Steve, poisoning his mind like Hydra had done. Steve would even bet Tony had only gotten pregnant so he could use that as leverage against Bucky too. 

Sadly the pregnancy also meant that Steve couldn’t approach Tony without Bucky absolutely following through on the threat to kill him. But he had to get to Bucky, had to make him see reason, but if he couldn’t go to the tower or call him then he had no way to contact him. 

Unless…. Natasha!

Steve felt a spark of hope ignite inside him, Natasha had infiltrated many places, she was a super assassin and spy, this would be childs play to her. All Steve would have to do was to tell Natasha what had happened and she could help him get in contact with Bucky and break Stark’s hold on him. 

Then he could bring Bucky home and they could prepare for the baby together.


	20. Chapter 20

James was still seething but he was determined to get an engagement ring for Tony, he’d wanted Steve’s input so he’d have a second opinion on the ring choice but obviously that wasn’t going to happen now, so he he’d have to do it himself, or…, he went into his pocket and took out his phone,   
“Friday?”

“Yes James?” Friday replied.

“Can you help me choose a ring for Tony. An engagement ring.”

“Absolutely, I can definitely do that.” Friday said sounding thrilled at the notion of helping James get a ring for her beloved boss. “May I suggest a jewellers for you?” the AI asked.

“Sure.” James said, as much as he wanted to get the tension and anger out of his system before he returned to the Tower, he didn’t want to be traipsing from jewellers to jewellers needlessly. 

“Uploading a map now.” 

James pulled up the map on the phone screen and set off in the direction the arrow was showing. 

The walk took twenty minutes during which time James found some of his irritation leaving him and the muscles and tendons of his shoulders and upper back loosened up as the urge to fight left him. 

He arrived at an old jewellers that had been in business since before he himself had been born, the proprietor looked older than James, if his wizened face, stooped back, and thin white hair was anything to go by. He had sharp blue eyes though and his face was intelligent as he welcomed James into the store. 

“Looking for anything in particular?” He asked, “We have a lovely selection of watches, gold, silver, and platinum. Also some men’s necklaces and wrist chains….”

“Rings actually.” James said, “Engagement rings for male Omegas.”

“Ah!” The elderly man’s face lit up, “This is indeed something in particular, right this way.” He beckoned James over to one of the back counters where several trays of rings were on displace in a glass case. 

James crouched down in front of the display and pointed to a tray that caught his eye, “Those are an interesting colour.”

“The rose gold. Yes it has become popular in the past few years.” The jeweller said opening the case and taking out the tray. 

James looked down at the rings. There were plain bands, celtic bands, Claddagh rings, studded bands, solitaire cut stone, and princess cut stones. 

“My mate is an engineer.” He said to the jeweller as he looked at the rings, “I’m not sure what would be best as he works with his hands a lot.”

“Hmm, no style, jewel or metal is suitable for someone who works with machinery or electrics.” The Jeweller said, “However, I do have a selection of interchangeable ring-necklaces.” 

James frowned having not heard of this before, the Jeweller put the rose gold rings back into the display case and locked it before taking James over to another display case. “We’ve only a couple of them in rose gold I’m afraid. But this is the idea.” He took out a tray with rings that were also connected to chains by clasps. 

“The rings can be disconnected from the chains easily and worn upon the finger and then returned to the chain just as easily.” The Jeweller explained. “They are becoming popular with people who work with their hands. Not just engineers but chefs, hairdressers, plumbers, electricians, and gardeners.” 

James nodded thoughtfully and pointed to the middle ring which was a rose gold band which finished in a celtic knot that was studded in the four corners with tiny diamonds. The clasps for the chain were set either side of the celtic knot so that when the ring was off the chain they would just look to the part of the setting. 

“This one I think.” He said taking out his phone and snapped a photo, “What do you think Friday?”

“Perfect.” Friday replied, “Would you like Bossman’s ring size?” 

“Yeah that’d be great.” James felt foolish for not thinking about that in advance. “You do sizing I assume?” 

“Of course, and we can inscribe the ring if you would like?” The Jeweller asked. 

James thought about it, considering what to say. The obvious was Yours Always or words to that effect, but he didn’t want that, he wanted something meaningful and personal. After several minutes in which Friday gave the Jeweller Tony’s ring size, James thought up the ideal inscription for the ring “Our Future Together.”

The old man wrote down the words and showed James several inscription styles for him to pick from and made a note of his choice, he then delivered the eye-watering price which could have been about six months rent back in the thirties! 

James however paid the full amount without question and safely stored away his receipt to he could return in ten days to pick up the ring and chain. 

“Ten days gives you time to plan the perfect night with boss to pop the question.” Friday said as James got outside of the jewellers and turned his collar up as it had started to rain. 

“Yeah, any ideas on that dollface?” He asked her. 

“Flirt!” Friday mock scolded, but James bet that if she’d had hair to flick over her shoulder and cheeks to blush with she’d be doing both. “Boss loves Italian food.” She said after a beat, “As you know he also prefers private settings to public, so I think a candle lit dinner on the balcony would be the best option, with some mood music which I of course will provide.”

James snorted, “You’d better, Tony’s version of mood music is ACDC and Black Sabath.”

“Boss is fond of Queen too.” Friday offered, “But I think some Barry White would be better here, although Enrique Inglaises Hero would be apt, as would Ronan Keatings When you say nothing at all, and of course the classic by Richard Marx Right here waiting for you.”

“I’ll let you work out a playlist for us Fri.” James said getting rather lost in the names of artists he’d never heard of. “A menu though. Tony’s can’t stomach cheese right now so a tomato based pasta dish would be best. Maybe a fish one…. Tuna Napolitana, with crusty bread, a nice crisp salad, some olives and sun blushed tomatoes.”

“An excellent choice.” Friday agreed, “May I caution you away from any mousses as they contain raw egg. While the risk would be low now Boss is past twelve weeks…”

“Its not worth taking. No problem.” James agreed, “I’ll think of something else for dessert.”

*****

Ten days later

James was on edge for the whole ten days as he waited for the ring to be finished. Despite him telling Steve not to call him the idiot do so several times, Friday blocking the call so it went to voice mail which James ignored until curiosity got the better of him. 

He regretted it every single time as it always pissed him off and he would then spend two hours decimating the punch bags in the gym or shooting the hell out of the targets until he’d gotten the anger out of his system.

Tony knew there was something wrong and James told him after the second day about his argument with Steve and how he didn’t want contact with the other Alpha until Steve had pulled his head out of his arse. 

Not having Steve in his corner did mean that James became some what isolated in regards to friends. He had Tony obviously, but Tony was his mate, and there were things, like planning an engagement, that he couldn’t share with Tony when he wanted it to be a surprise. 

He didn’t feel comfortable telling Pepper or Rhodey either as they were Tony’s friends not his, yes they were friendly, but James wouldn’t say they were friends yet, their relationship was still too new for that designation. 

That left Friday, who was great. But she couldn’t slap his shoulder or clasp his arm or hug him the way a flesh and blood person would. 

This made James more irate as there were things that he wanted to share with another person. His worries about becoming a Father, his fears over getting things wrong, of screwing up, of accidentally hurting his Pup, or just not being good enough. He didn’t want to confide in Tony about these things because Tony was already worrying about them in regards to himself and didn’t need James’ worries on top of his own, plus the symptoms of pregnancy and all the weirdness they brought. 

Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly at all given their shared history, it was Natasha that reached out to James on day nine. 

She had returned to the compound and been treated to Steve’s version of events which, in her own words were “The biggest load of prehistoric bullshit” she had ever heard. She’d also punched him in the face and given him a black eye, told him to grow the fuck up, get therapy, and realize that the entire world did not revolve around himself. 

As well as imparting this to James, she asked how he was doing and offered to be ear if he wanted to talk. 

James took her up on the offer and the two of them met in Central Park to walk and talk away from both the tower and compound, giving James the chance to fully vent his frustrations over Steve, to voice his concerns over his impending Fatherhood, and his plans to ask Tony to marry him in a days time. 

“Steve is not your problem.” Natasha said in a matter-of-fact tone. “The problem there is his own and he has to sort this out for himself. Don’t let his shit drag you down, not now when you are starting a whole knew chapter of your life.”

That was good advice and James could agree, but there was still that part of himself that remembered the friendship he’d had in the past and missed it, wished that he could have that as well as his future with Tony. The old saying of “You can’t have everything.” Seemed applicable.

“As for Fatherhood, well I’m the wrong person to ask really.” Natasha said, “I don’t know about parenting other than what I’ve witnessed. But, I think that if you are concerned about these things then you are already showing that you are going to be a good and conscientious parent, because a bad Father wouldn’t care at all.  
Yeah you’ll make mistakes, you’ll mess up, you’ll probably tear your hair out feeling like you are getting it all wrong. But so long as baby Natasha is growing well, is clean, and healthy, then you aren’t really getting anything important wrong.”

“I guess.” James said, “And he or she is not being called Natasha.” 

Natasha ignored this and continued on as if he hadn’t spoken, “You are going to the parenting classes with Stark, you are learning everything you can learn about this, and you are making all the preparations you can. There is nothing more you can do except sit back, enjoy the ride, and brace yourself for when Stark goes into labour, because if I know him, he’ll make your life hell when baby Natasha starts to come out.”

James grimaced, he’d made the mistake of watching a couple of birthing videos online. Graphic birthing videos. Not even all his years as the winter soldier had prepared him for that. He was desperately hoping that Tony would be lucky and the birth would be over within minutes rather than the hours of misery some mothers faced. He wasn’t sure Tony would allow him to survive it if that happened!

“As for you marrying Tony? You are on your own there Charm boy.” 

“Thanks.” James drawled rolling his eyes.

“You’re welcome.” Natasha said, “Now tell me about the evening you have planned…”

*****

James was up to something, Tony was sure of it. His Alpha had been secretive for days. At first Tony thought it was because of his argument with Steve, but he wasn’t sure it was that, and Friday was no help so clearly she was in on whatever James was up to. 

Tony was just considering going through Friady’s servers to find whatever secrets she was hiding, when James called him up to the penthouse.

“This is not over Missy.” He warned Friday, getting to his feet and rubbing the small of his back. 

“Whatever you say Boss.” She replied cheekily. 

“Damn AI’s getting snarky.” Tony grumbled as he made his way up to the penthouse. He paused when he found it darkened, the only light coming from candles that lit a path out onto the balcony where a table was set up for dinner. Grinning Tony followed the path out onto the balcony where he found James waiting by the table, a chair pulled out ready for him. 

“What’s all this?” Tony asked, taking a seat and laughing a little as James pushed the chair in for him.

“Just a little romantic evening.” James said pouring them both glasses on non-alcoholic wine, “Now I will be back in a moment with our dinner.” 

Giggling again Tony sipped his wine and cocked his head as Barry White began to play, “Getting romantic, Friday?” he asked her. 

“Just setting the mood Boss.”

“You are on probation, remember that.”

“Of course Boss.”

Sitting back in his chair Tony settled in for a good night as James came out with the food. 

They ate and talked, the music serving to relax them both and the food was delicious. James was an excellent cook and Tony had eaten at five star restaurants. 

After dessert they sat and talked for a while, until James went and got coffee for them both and what appeared to be a box of chocolates. 

“I’m not sure I’ve got room for anything else.” Tony said as James handed him to the box to open. 

“I’m pretty sure you will have.” James said. 

Tony opened the box and frowned as there was another box inside of the cardboard box, this one velvet and firm. “What…?” He carefully opened the box and froze when he saw the ring and chain inside. 

“Tony Stark?” James said getting down on one knee, “Will you marry me?” 

Tony stared at James then looked down at the ring, his eyes filling with tears, “Yes!” He whispered, trying not to cry, “Yes I’ll marry you!” 

As his hands were shaking too much, it was James who got the ring out of the box for him and slipped it onto Tony’s finger, then fastened the chain about his neck, explaining how the clasps would work. 

“So, this was what you were keeping secret.” Tony sniffled, damn his hormones. 

“Well I couldn’t very well surprise you if you knew about it could I?” James said wiping Tony’s tears away with his thumbs. “And we’ll do whatever you want, a big wedding, a small wedding, we can wait until after our Pup is born, I don’t care, so long as we’re together and happy that is all that matters.”

“I don’t care either.” Tony said, snuggling into James arms, for once his coffee completely forgotten, “So long as you do one thing for me.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that Doll?”

“Wear your WWII uniform on our wedding day. I’ve always fancied a man in uniform!”

James snorted, “That saves buying a suit then.” He said agreeably, “So long as you wear something that emphasises that ass of yours, you’ve got a deal.”


	21. Chapter 21

Compound.

Steve’s blackeye healed within hours of Natasha hitting him. No injury lasts for very long on his enhanced body. It takes a very severe injury for him to be out of commission for more than a few hours. The most notable time being when he had fought the Winter Soldier. 

It was only a few years ago that he and Bucky were fighting in that ship, Bucky determined to kill him, unaware of the past they had shared prior to Hydra getting their filthy hands on him, yet it might as well have been a lifetime ago with how much things have changed. 

Steve just can’t figure out where everything went so wrong. 

No, he can figure it out, he knows exactly where things went wrong. 

Tony Stark. 

How is it that the Billionaire is always at the centre of everything that goes wrong in Steve’s life? 

There was a time when Steve thought that they could be friends, they had been friends, prior to Ultron at least. That was when things had fallen apart there. While Tony had been acquitted Steve didn’t believe that meant he was absolved of all wrong doing, it was partly why he hadn’t accepted Tony’s olive branch in Vienna, he just couldn’t trust the Billionaire. Then his reservations had been proven correct when Tony had snapped and attacked them in Siberia. 

Really, if Tony cared so much about his parents deaths, how could he now claim to be in love with Bucky? 

How could Bucky be in love with Tony? 

Okay the second was answered easily, Tony was very seductive and could easily turn on the charm when it suited him. What his endgame was here Steve didn’t know, and he was afraid it would only mean that Bucky would end up being hurt. 

He’d been sure the relationship would fizzle out after just a few weeks and that Tony would kick Bucky to the curb once he’d grown bored with him as he did with all of his toys. But now Tony was pregnant, the two were bonded, it seemed that they were in this for the long haul. 

Part of Steve wanted to believe that Tony was genuine about his feelings for Bucky, but he just couldn’t trust it, he still had the horrible feeling that it would all end in a lot of pain for Bucky, pain he wanted to protect his friend from. 

But it seemed like there was no way to convince Bucky of that, hell not even Natasha had believed it, hence the blackeye she’d given him and the choice names in Russian she had called him. 

She’d even gone to see Bucky, had spent time with him in central park, when Bucky wouldn’t even answer a phone call from him. 

What irked Steve more was that in the weeks that followed, Natasha went several times to New York for similar meet ups with Bucky. 

“He needs someone to talk to, who isn’t pregnant with his Pup, or best friends with his mate.” Natasha explained to Steve rather witheringly. “He has a lot of concerns about becoming a Father. Concerns he doesn’t want to share with Tony because he doesn’t want to add to the stress Tony is already under, and he hasn’t really got any other options available to him.”

“He could talk to me.” Steve said with bitterness in his tone. His eyes narrowed as Natasha scoffed at the statement. 

“Cap, you verbally attack Tony whenever you are with James, and you have physically attacked Tony more than once in his presence.” 

“I won’t do that again.” Steve protested, “I wouldn’t, especially not now Stark is Pupped.” He looked genuinely hurt at Natasha uncertainty and after a few moments she sighed. 

“He misses you.” She admitted, “He misses the friendship you had, the friendship he hoped he could build with you as he is Today, rather than trying to be a man from seventy years ago. He is going to be a Father in a few months time and he is naturally concerned about that, both the normal anxieties all expectant parents have, and the fear of the Winter Soldier somehow being triggered and him causing harm to the Pup.

He’s also very excited and happy to be a Father, when he isn’t expressing his concerns all he can talk about is Tony and the Pup. He wanted to share that with you, he wanted for you to be a part of this, to be happy for him and supportive of his family.”

Steve winced, he hated that Bucky’s family included Tony. But he so wanted to be a part of Bucky’s life, be a part of Bucky’s family, to hold Bucky’s Son in his arms, probably the closest he’d even get to having a baby of his own. Maybe if he focused on the baby and just ignored Tony, or at least ignored him for the most part beyond a polite question or comment, then he could do this. After all he did very much want to be a part of the baby’s life, to be the baby’s Uncle Steve….

“If I apologise and show that I am making an effort do you think he’d listen?” he asked Natasha looking down at the counter as he spoke and then back up at her with his most earnest expression. 

She tilted her head considering, “Perhaps.” She said, “What will you say, besides that you are sorry?”

“I….” Steve faltered,

“Why don’t you take your time and think about it and then get back to me?”

That did seem like a good idea, Steve had to admit, and after he thanked Natasha he made his way back to his room to start doing just that. 

*****

Showing that he was making an effort actually involved Steve learning all he could about baby development in the womb and incorporating all he learned into a long letter he composed for Bucky. Talking about how the Pup would have fingernails now, the size they would be, asking if Tony had begun to feel movement yet, and if they had decided on a name. 

Once he had the letter composed he gave it to Natasha to read and once she was satisfied she took it to Bucky on their next visit. Steve waited with baited breath until she’d returned to the compound and said that Bucky would be in touch. 

Two days went by and Steve hardly left the phone as he waited for Bucky to call, then just as he was starting to lose hope Bucky arrived at the compound. 

*****

James had been uncertain on whether or not he should accept Steve’s apology. This time it actually seemed genuine and was not full of excuses; he was also taking an interest in the baby and the pregnancy, asking how Tony was doing, if the morning sickness had stopped, what cravings Tony was having, and if the Pup was moving yet. 

That Steve had bothered to look up this information did warm Bucky’s heart but he was still unsure. 

“If you want to rebuild your friendship with him, then you should do so.” Tony told him when James asked his opinion. He did so as he helped Tony rub cocoa butter into his growing bump in an effort to avoid stretch marks, although in some respect that was a lost cause since Tony was already sport a few over his hips and on the backs of his thighs. 

Tony had complained over this and the fact that his ass and thighs were thickening as rapidly as his waist, but James couldn’t keep his hands off them, revelling in the extra flesh that gave him so much more to squeeze. There was something undeniably erotic about seeing Tony growing so heavy with his Pup, it made him want to growl possessively, and to throw Tony over his shoulder and run back to the bed and thoroughly scent and mark him. 

“Cave Alpha brain.” Was what Tony had described it as, saying that soon James would be beating on his chest and speaking in monosyllables. 

But really was it his fault that just the sight of that ripe round ass was enough to make him aching and hard all the time? 

No, it was all Tony’s fault for looking and smelling so damn fuckable all the time. 

Well, that was James’ excuse and he was sticking to it. 

Anyway, for all that he might complain that James was acting like a cave alpha, it was helping Tony’s self-confidence when it came to his drastically changing body. Knowing that James still found him attractive certainly helped when dealing with all the changes that came with pregnancy. 

“I won’t stand for him hurting you again.” James said fiercely, “Or bad mouthing you, or threatening you, if he wants to be friends then he has got to accept that you are my mate and the love of my life.”

“Then make that clear.” Tony said, but with warmth in his eyes over James’ protectiveness. He sucked in a breath looking like he was gearing himself up for something, “If he is legitimately looking to change and you believe him, then invite him to the wedding.”

The wedding was going to be a very simple affair. Neither Tony or James wanted a huge fuss with lots of attention on them, they would rather have an intimate gathering of friends and family with a simple ceremony and low key, relaxed celebration after. So they were going to get married at City Hall, and then celebrate back in the penthouse with good food and music. 

Rhodey was naturally giving Tony away, as he was the closest Tony had to family, Pepper was maid of honour, and James…. Well he did need a best man. Maybe if Steve was really looking to change then he could still be James’ best man after all. 

So, after two days of hard thinking and discussion, James drove to the Avengers Compound to speak to Steve. 

He was unsurprised when he was caught in a hug the second he walked through the door. 

“God Buck I have missed you so much!” Steve gushed, “How are you doing, how’s Tony and the Pup, do you know the sex yet, do you have a name, have you felt him kick?” 

James could help the smile that tugged at his lips at Steve’s enthusiasm, “Tony is doing well.” He said over looking that Steve was still calling him Bucky. Old habits and all that. “We’ve decided not to find out the sex, we don’t care either way. Tony has started to feel movement, he says it’s like bubbles inside him or a butterfly flapping its wings, but no I haven’t felt a kick yet.” 

“I’ll bet it’ll be exciting when you do. I wonder what that will feel like, if it’ll feel soft under your hand or hard.” 

“I’ll let you know when it happens.” James said, he took his phone from his pocket and pulled a picture up on the screen, the latest Ultra-sound photo which he showed to Steve. “At least he or she doesn’t look like a jellyfish anymore. I can actually see a head, arms, and legs.”

Steve grinned at the image, “Is the size good, he’s growing well?” 

“Well within average.” James replied, “And why are you so convinced it’s a boy?” 

Steve shrugged, “Just a feeling. I can picture a little Bucky Junior running around, getting into mischief, causing you endless trouble, and looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.”

“Ugh, at least I’ll know why I’ll go grey then.” 

“Well I can help….,” Steve paused and looked uncertain, “If you want me to… I would like to, but only if you’re comfortable with it.”

James sighed, “I want you to be a part of my Pup’s life Steve.” He said, “I want you to be a part of my life. But I can’t have you bad mouthing my mate or threatening him.” 

Steve nodded, “I understand and I won’t do either ever again, I promise.” 

James studied Steve’s expression, he did seem to be telling the truth and he had made an effort in looking up so much about Pups development, and had asked about Tony’s health. 

Sucking in a breath James decided to bite the bullet, “If you would like to, you can come to our wedding.” He offered, “It’s in three weeks time, at City Hall. There isn’t going to be a huge amount of people, just Rhodes, Pepper, Natasha, and this kid Tony knows from Tennessee, Harley Keener and his family. I need a best man too.” He added at the end, “So if you…” he was cut off as Steve half strangled him in another hug. 

“I’d love to be your best man. Have you bought a suit yet? What would be a suitable gift, I can’t imagine you’ll be wanting towels or dinner services.”

James chuckled, “We’ve decided that for gifts we’d rather just have stuff bought for the Pup, and as for a suit, I’m going to be wearing my old uniform.” He gave Steve a wink, “Tony has a thing for Alpha’s in uniform!”

Steve rolled his eyes, “You’ve already knocked him up you jerk, I don’t think you need to worry about enticing him anymore.” 

“No, but if I dress up for him, he’ll dress up for me….” James wiggled his eyebrows, “With pants cut really tight over his ass.” He snorted as Steve began to beg him not to give any further details. As they spoke and laughed James found the knot of tension that had been sat in his gut since he’d left New York loosening. Maybe things would work out after all.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now on the correct story. Thanks everyone for letting me know. <3

While James was wearing his Army dress uniform, Tony had to get a wedding outfit.

Green and White were the traditional colours for an Omega. White symbolizing purity and Green symbolizing fertility.

Of course, in recent years such traditions were not being followed as strictly as they had in the past, with Omegas choosing other colours to wear. Red and Black had been very fashionable as had Black and White. But many Omegas still wanted to be wearing the classic green and white, like the classic white wedding dress that Beta women mainly opted for.

While James was immersing himself in modern culture and learning anything and everything he could about the twenty-first century he now lived in, Tony had the feeling that James would appreciate him wearing the traditional colours rather than something “Fashionable”

With that in mind he stuck to looking at the green and white wedding suits as he, Pepper, and a thoroughly bored Rhodey trawled the shops.

They had dragged Rhodey along simply to have him carrying the bags, saying that Tony couldn’t do it as he was pregnant, and Pepper couldn’t do it because she needed both arms free to assist Tony and answer her phone.

This left Rhodey trailing after them, his arms full of their shopping bags, because while this was a shop for wedding outfits the two of them couldn’t resist buying yet more baby clothes, and clothing for themselves.

Sighing heavily Rhodey watch as Tony turned before a triple full length mirror in the nineth wedding outfit he’d tried on as Pepper clucked her tongue and commented, telling him to turn this way, to lift his head, to pull his shoulders back… blah, blah….

“I love the long over tunic on this, the train it has is beautiful, but the collar…” Pepper shook her head, her face creased with a frown. “It’s too high, it hides too much of his face.”

“It’s not comfortable either.” Tony agreed, “Without the collar though…” He looked down at himself, “I really like this.” He looked to the assistant, “Can the collar be removed?”

The assistant nodded, a tape measure over her arm and a hand full of pins clutched between her fingers. “Certainly Mr Stark, or, if you would like to keep the high collar style, it could be shortened instead.”

“Yeah, that might work.” Tony said glancing to Pepper, “What do you think?”

“I think it’ll work.” Pepper agreed, “Now what about the cut of the waist and the bust? They are snug now, in two weeks….”

“I won’t be that much bigger, Pep.” Tony closed his eyes and muttered a prayer, “Please don’t let me be that much bigger.” He had deliberately left getting his wedding outfit until as late as possible because of his ever changing proportions.

“Both can be let out. We offer a maternity sizing special here.” The assistant said, “Usually we do a final measurement two weeks before the completion of the garments, but for the maternity special we give a final measurement forty eight hours before completion.”

“Excellent.” Pepper said, “How about the trousers Tony?”

“They fit fine, this is a maternity suit, Pep.” Tony reminded her, “They could do with being taken up at the ankle though.” The material was sagging over his feet somewhat. “What do you think, Honeybear?”

Rhodey jerked as if he were just waking up despite being on his feet. “Uh, yeah, it’s…great.”

Tony and Pepper exchanged looks, rolling their eyes and sighing heavily as if they were very put upon.

“I’ll take it.” Tony said to the assistant, whose face lit up at the prospect of a very handsome commission. “Do you do bridal nightwear here too?” He asked her, “Sexy stuff for the wedding night, lace, and chiffon?”

“We do indeed Mr Stark. In fact we have a range in maternity….”

Rhodey groaned and went to find himself a quiet corner to slump down into. He didn’t know what God he’d pissed off, but this was definitely his personal hell.

*****

James and Steve didn’t really need to have much done to their uniforms beyond having them cleaned and pressed. The only thing James needed was the left sleeves loosening to accommodate his prosthetic arm. While it was the same size as his right arm the fact it was metal meant there was no give in it as there was with flesh and he needed slightly more material to accommodate the structure.

“Looking good.” Steve said as the two of them stood in the tailors with James having the measurements taken for the alterations to be made. “Although… you look tired.”

James had some shadows beneath his eyes and had been yawning a lot.

“I was on patrol last night.” James said shrugging, “And Tony’s started getting leg cramps at night because of how the Pup is laying in the womb. It’s compressing the nerves in his back and making his legs cramp up.”

Steve frowned, “How do his leg cramps affect you?”

“He wakes me up when he gets out of bed.” James replied, “And he’s often out of bed multiple times a night, not just for his leg cramps, but for the bathroom.” The Alpha grinned ruefully, “I think the little sods getting us in practise for when he or she will be keeping us awake all night.”

“You could sleep in separate beds.” Steve said, “That way your sleep won’t be interrupted.”

“Are you kidding?” James laughed and shook his head, “I hate being away from him for any length of time. Sleeping apart wouldn’t work, I’d miss him too much, and I’d be worrying about him, if he was alright, if the Pup was alright, so I wouldn’t get any sleep anyway.”

His phone buzzed and the tailor paused so James could answer it, “Hi Doll, yeah you gonna show me? oh come on, you don’t believe in those superstitions….. so you are just going to keep me guessing? Oh yeah I’m nearly done here, if you want we can all meet up for lunch?”

Steve watched James’ face as he went through a series of expressions while speaking to Tony. He clucked his tongue when Tony obviously refused to meet up for lunch and James agreed to just get some takeout for Tony to have, and to meet back at the tower later.  
Where Steve still wasn’t welcome. Typical Tony being difficult.

Steve bit his tongue and reminded himself not to comment on the pettiness as the conversation went on…

“Go and put your feet up. The Doctor said sitting with your legs elevated was supposed to help with that.”

No doubt Tony was complaining over his feet hurting or something.

“Alright, what take out do you want?” James asked, then he snorted, “Right, of course, what do you ever want these days.” He laughed into the phone, “I am happy to take full responsibility for it too. I love you honey, I’ll see you soon.”

Disconnecting James looked to Steve, his smile still in place, “He’s got his wedding suit selected. When we’re done here we’ll go get some lunch and then I need to go and get some Fish fingers especially. Tony’s craving them again.”

“Can’t he buy them?” Steve asked trying to keep his tone neutral.

“I said I’d pick them up.” James replied dismissively, taking off his tunic and dress shirt now that the measurements had been taken, “When will they be ready?” He asked the tailor.

“In a week sir, although I do offer an express service of forty eight hours for an additional eighty dollars.”

“A week is fine, the wedding’s still a little way off.”

Steve waited while James paid the tailor, then the two of them set off to go and get some food before James headed back to the tower.

*****

When James got into the common area, he found Tony half laying on the sofa with his feet propped up a yoga ball a breast pump in his hands which he was assembling.

“Hey Snowflake, is that my fish fingers I smell?” Tony eagerly asked twisting as much as his body would allow him to at this stage.

“Yeah I got your fish fingers.” James chuckled, “I got you some other stuff too. You need to eat more than fish fingers.”

“Pretty sure I don’t.” Tony said completing the assembly of the breast pump and grimaced, “This thing looks like a medieval torture device. Like something they used to squish body parts and force confessions of heresy out of people.”

From the kitchen James snorted as he set out the food for Tony. Fish fingers of course, with BBQ sauce, but also a fresh salad and baked potato. He put it all on a plate and then placed that on a tray, bringing it through for Tony to have on the sofa.

“So, what’s this about sexy nightwear?” He asked Tony, setting the tray down besides him.

“Ah, you’ll have to wait and see.” Tony said, eagerly getting a fish finger and dunking it in the BBQ sauce, “Food of the Gods.” He declared closing his eyes to savour the taste.

“Speaking of Gods, have we heard back from Thor in regards to the wedding?”

“No.” Tony said, “He is in Norway as far as I know, but he hasn’t responded.” Tony wasn’t that bothered really, he and Thor had never been close, and Tony still hadn’t fully forgiven the God for half strangling him during the debacle with Ultron.

He finished the first fish finger and got stuck into the second while James had Friday turn the TV on, “Makes sure you eat the rest.” He said, while going through the channels, “You are not just having Fish fingers. Our bundle of trouble needs vegetables.”

Tony pulled a face at James’ back, “Potatoes are a starch not a vegetable.” He groused while starting on the baked potato.

“They come from the ground and they were edible, therefore they are a vegetable or a fruit.” James said settling on Netflix and leaned back on the sofa, putting on arm about Tony’s shoulders and rested his free hand over the growing bump. He nearly hit the ceiling when something moved beneath his palm.

Tony burst into laughter, having to cover his mouth which was full of potato which he didn’t want to spray across the room. Struggling not to choke, he laughed and pointed at James, who was clutching at his chest and looked like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Oh my God your face!” Tony howled, “Oh fuck me, Friday, tell me you’ve got that recorded, that was fucking priceless and so has to go on Youtube.”

“Don’t you even think about it Friday.” James grumbled, his cheeks ablaze as he looked at Tony’s bump, “I just wasn’t expecting…”

“Me neither, but at least I didn’t nearly piss myself, which considering that my bladder is pretty dodgy right now, is a miracle.” Tony said still chuckling. He set his dinner aside and ran his hands over his bump and grinned, “C’mere, he or she’s still at it.”

Holding out his hand James lay it over the bump were Tony showed him and a smile spread over his face as he felt the movement.

“Wow, that’s strong.” James said, “Really strong. I think we’ve got a kick boxer in there.” He looked up and his smile fell when he saw that Tony was crying, “Oh doll…”

“It’s fine, it’s stupid hormones.” Tony sniffed wiping at his face, “I’m happy not sad, I’m just crying because I’m happy, fuck, my fucking hormones are crazy.”

“Hush, no bad words. Remember, little one can hear our voices.” James said bending forward to kiss the bump, “I’m so happy you’ve finally started to move about enough for me to feel you.” He told the baby, “You carry on in there, grow big and strong and we’ll meet you very soon.”

“And hopefully we’ll have decided on a name for him or her by then.” Tony said, blowing his nose into a tissue, “Maybe something aquatic or ocean related considering the way I’m craving fish. Atlanta?” he wrinkled his nose, “Friday can you offer some suggestions?”

“Caspian is quite a popular boys name.” Friday offered.

“Not bad.” James said, “We’ll put it on the short list.”

“Dylan is also popular and is unisex.”

“I like that name.” Tony said, “Add that to the short list Friday.”

“Also Darya, for a girl, Fisher for a boy, Halcyon for a boy, Kai is unisex.”

“Add that to the list.” James said with an agreeing nod from Tony.

“Laguna for a girl.”

“Fuck no!” Tony said and the baby kicked as if showing equal disagreement with the name.

“Marina, Marissa for girls, Morgan which is unisex.”

“Wait. Morgan.” Tony looked to James, “That’s the name.”

“Morgan.” James repeated, “Morgan Stark-Barnes.” He grinned, “I think we have a winner, what do you think little one, are you a Morgan?” he asked the Bump and received a hearty kick in response, “I think that’s a yes.”

“We have a Morgan.” Tony said, his hand joining James’ on his bump, his food temporarily forgotten as they focused on the newly named Morgan’s movements under the skin and discussed potential middle names that would work with Morgan.


	23. Chapter 23

New York Court House.

Steve stood out on the courthouse steps with Bucky and Natasha waiting for Tony to arrive. Bucky had wanted to follow tradition and had spent the night in a hotel room rather than at the Tower so he wouldn't see Tony before the big day. 

"Nervous?" Steve asked amused as Bucky paced back and forth in front of him, looking at his watch and biting his bottom lip. 

"Why would I be nervous?" 

Steve exchanged a look with Natasha, she rolled her eyes and muttered something in Russian that Steve didn't understand, but Bucky certainly did as he flipped her off. 

"He's late!" Bucky said looking to his watch again. Steve looked down at his own and couldn't supress the snicker of amusement, Tony was late, by all of twenty seconds. 

"It's tradition for the bride to be late." Natasha said, "And Tony had ever been on time to anything in his life." Her lips quircked a smile, "He'll be late giving birth to baby Natasha."

"It's going to be Morgan not Natasha." Bucky said but his lips had lifted a little, "And I'd suggest you don't tell him you think he'll be overdue, he's uncomfortable enough as it is."

"It can't be that bad." 

Steve felt his cheeks heat as both Natasha and Bucky stared at him in disbelief, "Well, it's only pregnancy, his body was made to do this, so the discomfort can't be that serious."

"Okay cap, how about I punch you in the kidney's, sides, and stomach repeatedly while you have an overful bladder and constant heartburn and then you can tell me if the discomfort is bad or not." Natasha suggested with one of her terrifyingly sweet smiles that were all teeth and malice.

Steve gave her an unimpressed look, "Big difference between you punching and a baby kicking. You are vicious and vindictive with a sadistic streak. A baby is innocent and less than half your size."

"Might be less than half her size, but Morgan's got a hell of right hook and a strong left foot." Bucky said sounding proud despite neither being overly comfortable for Tony. "He or she is going to be a footballer or a boxing champion."

"Is Morgan really the name you are going for, not James?" Steve asked, "The first born Son traditionally...,"

"That's a dying tradition." Bucky said, "I wasn't named after my Father, neither were you. We chose Morgan because it relates to the ocean and Tony's being craving fish fingers since he got pregnant."

"Natasha Morgan..."

"No!" Bucky said, "No Natasha, Natalie, Natalia, or any variation on your name." 

"My middle name is Alianova." Natasha offered and Bucky groaned pinching the bridge of his nose. When a car horn beeped he looked up and straightened up as Tony's car arrived. 

*****

"Fuck they're tight, how can they be tight, I had the fricken fitting two days ago, I can't have gained extra inches in forty eight hours!" Tony complained as Pepper helped him into his wedding suit. 

"Not inches, centimetres though and water retention, and you kept insisting that you wanted the pants cut as tight as possible, you also had three servings of cake last night, the sugar and wheat could easily have made you bloated." Pepper said practically. 

"It was last night as a single Omega, I can't drink because of Morgan, I had to celebrate some how." Tony said. The night before had been spent enjoying a quiet evening in with Rhodey, Pepper, Harley, his Sister Emma, and their Mother Grace who had brought cake, a devine lemon sponge with a rich butter cream filling and a tangy glaze that made the tongue tingle. 

"You know as I am eating for two technically speaking I only had one and a half slices to myself, Morgan had the rest." To Tony there was logic in this, his logic and he would fight anyone who disagreed with him. 

"If you say so Mr Stark."

"I do Miss Potts." Tony grinned, "That's the last time you'll get to call me that." the two exchanged grins that were interupted by loud banging on the bedroom door. 

"Come on, it can't take this long to get dressed even for someone who's knocked up and huge!" came the impatient cry from beyond the door.

"Bite your tongue Keener. I am the hottest knocked up peson on the planet." Tony shot back spreading his arms to Pepper could help him put on his under shirt and then tuck it into the skin tight pants. Okay maybe he ahd over done it with the cake last night and he might have been unwise to insist that the pants be cut quite so snug, but he'd wanted to show of his ass for James and he couldn't do that unless the pants were tight, so he'd just have to breathe shallow breaths. 

Lastly came the overtunic which flowed down onto the ground creating a train. The collar had been shortened to stand just an inch up Tony's throat, the bust and waist had been let out some but were still form fitting creating an elegant and flattering image.

"You look beautiful." Pepper said sniffing a little, she quickly dabbed at her eyes so her make up wouldn't run. She was wearing a beautiful strapless mermaid gown of emerald green and gold lace embroidered with pearls right the way down to the flair of the skirt below the knees. She had a gold choker with an emerald in the centre about her throat and matching earrings. Her hair was done up in a beehive and decorated with an emerald green fascinator. She looked like a goddess, the perfect maid of honour. 

"Come on, I want to get this Goddamn tie off my neck." Harley yelled through the door. 

"Harley Michael Keener watch your mouth." Grace called out. 

"Mom!"

"We better go." Tony said snickering, "Sounds like the natives are getting restless."

Pepper nodded, "After you Mr Stark."

"Thank you Miss Potts."

Rhodey looked very handsome in his Airforce blues, Harley, despite his complaints looked smart in his tailored suit with a collar and tie. Emma was a very pretty bridesmaid, her dress matched Pepper's but was less revealing owing to her age, she was also carrying a bouquet of white roses wrapped in green and gold ribbon. Grace was in a smart two piece dress suit in jade, she had an elegant mesh kentucky derby fascinator pinned into her hair that matched her handbag and heels. She was also wearing a new pair diamond earrings that Tony had insisted on giving her the night before. He insisted they were only imitation but any idiot could tell they were at least a carrat maybe two.

"Very elegant." Rhodey said.

"Thank you, or did you mean Pepper?" Tony replied.

"Both." Rhodey wisely said and offered his elbows, "May I escort you both?" 

Tony looked to Pepper, "A handsome man in uniform."

"How could we refuse." Pepper finished. 

******

It was Rhodey who got out of the car first, followed by Harley, then Grace and Emma, lastly came Pepper and Tony. 

James' breath caught in his throat for a moment at the sight of his mate and he felt his eyes burn with tears that he furiously blinked away. However the awe struck smile was still on his face when Tony made it up to the steps to join him, his dark eyes looking James over, "Very handsome." He purred.

"Very beautiful." James replied admiring the tight cut of the pants over Tony's thighs, which promised a full shaping of his ripe backside that was tantalizingly hidden from view by the over tunic, it was like looking at something you desired behind frosted glass, you could make out the shape of it but not the full form. A tease was what it was, a damn tease!

Steve cleared his throat after a few minutes of Tony and James staring into each other's eyes, "Are we ready?"

"I am." James said not taking his eyes off Tony, "How about you?" 

"Absolutely."

Rhodey walked Tony by the arm to stand before the justice's desk, Pepper, and Emma going first as Brides maid and Maid of honour. James stood with Steve at his side waiting for Tony whose hand Rhodey gave with a stage whisper that he was break James' knees if he hurt Tony. 

"Sourpatch!" Tony protested.

"It's acceptable." James said with a shrug. "And it'll never happen. Because I am going to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you have made me." Tony's eyes watered and he silently cursed his hormones as he fought tears.

The Justice cleared his throat to draw their attention, "If you are ready?" At their nod he began the ceramony. 

"I James Buchanan Barnes do take thee, Anthony Edward Stark to be my lawful wedding husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better or for worse and forsaking all others until death us do part."

"I Anthony Edward Stark do take thee James Buchanan Barnes to be my Lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better or for worse, and forsaking all others until death us do part."

"With this ring as a symbol of my love and affection I thee wed."

"With this ring as a symbol of my love and affection I thee wed."

The Justice smiled, "By the power vested in me by the state of New York I pronounce married in the eyes of man and God." He didn't need to tell them that they could kiss as they were both already doing it! 

Rhodey, Natasha, and Harley took turns snapping the photos as Tony and James signed the registery followed by Steve and Pepper as their wittness. They all stood and the Justice took a few shots of all of them together in the courthouse congratulating them and wishing them a happy future. 

Champagne was cracked in the limo as soon as they were out of the courthouse, Natasha, Steve, and James had taken a cab there so they could go back to the tower in the limo with Tony and the others. Tony had an alcohol free grape soda to sip as did Harley and Emma while the other had glasses of champagne each. 

"To the Stark-Barnes's." Rhodey declared, "May they have a long and happy future."

"Is it Stark-Barnes, or Barnes-Stark?" Natasha asked, "Have you decided on that?"

"Stark-Barnes." Tony replied. "It sounds better." He hissed and rubbed at his stomach to soothe the Pup. 

"The little kicking up a storm?" Grace said.

"Always." Tony rolled his eyes, "Since he or she found their feet and fists they don't want to stop."

"I remember that." Grace mused, "Harley would keep me up all night with his insessant wriggling and elbows to my bladder." 

"Mom!" Harley cried his cheeks flushing. 

"Emma gave me the craziest of cravings though." Grace continued ignoring Harley's embarrassed protests. "And when you are in your final weeks and think it can't possibly get any worse, you find yourself eighteen months later tearing through the house after a stark naked baby trying to escape bath time or a nappy change!"

Harley burried his face his hands while Emma looked at Tony curiously, "Can I feel?" She asked politely. 

"Sure, go ahead." Tony said. Since she was so young and an Omega herself James wouldn't see her as a threat the way he would an adult Alpha or Beta feeling his belly. He grinned as Emma gasped at the movement beneath her hand. 

"That's so weird." She said.

"That's because he's weird." Harley teased. 

Tony narrowed his eyes at Harley, "Did I tell you guys about how he tried to poison me when we first met?" 

"Lies, I so did not!"

"I asked for a tuna sandwich and what do I get?" 

"It was perfectly edible."

"What I got was something that should have come with a government health warning. Honestly this thing was growing other life forms and it could have stunk out an entire ocean let alone actually have come from one."

"You busted my sister's watch!" Harley cried.

"No, the jackass Mandarin's thugs, dickless, dumbass, and buttface busted her watch. Get your facts straight Rugrat or you'll never be a genius."

"Ha, I'm already smarter than you and I'm gonna buy Stark industries, rename it Keener's Inovation and keep you on as a cleaner!" 

Tony snorted "As if I would accept such a job. You can have Dumm-E for cleaning, then you'll go bankrupt within a year because of all the lawsuits he'll cause."

"Are you taking the bots with you to the new house?" Natasha asked cutting into the amusing argument/conversation between Tony and Harley. 

"Yeah, I don't dare leave them behind, they'll find a way to follow me and I'll get calls about demented bots trying to hitch hike on the roads." Tony sighed as if he were truly put upon and didn't love his mad collection AI's. 

"We're gonna have them instead of a guard dog." James said with a smirk, "Nothing will get past Dumm-E and his fire extinguisher." 

"Or survive Butterfingers smoothie recipes." Tony muttered. "You see we're not only baby proofing our new house, we're Bot proofing it too or we are completely doomed!"


	24. Chapter 24

The day had been a complete success. Natasha, Rhodey, and Pepper had kept Steve away from Tony and had monitored conversation topics to avoid any arguments starting up. 

Steve’s speech had been as one could expect. He had harped on about his childhood with Bucky, and how proud he was of his friend having survived so much and how much he was looking forward to be Uncle to Bucky’s child, pretty much dismissing Tony’s presence completely, but at least he was not being insulting or cruel so everyone let it pass. 

Rhodey’s speech was far more amusing, having Tony blushing crimson, declaring everything lies, especially the part where he’d split the seat of his skin tight pleather trousers tripping over a curb when he’d been drunk out of his mind. By some miracle it hadn’t ended up in the papers where most of his exploits had, such as the skinny dipping in the Trevi fountain. 

They had an excellent meal, with Tony craving fish they had decided to go for a seafood theme with an abundance of fish dishes, from Lobster to fish fingers and a variety of side dishes. 

Dancing followed the meal, Friday played a variety of music, from classical waltz and tango’s, to jazz, rock’n’roll, dance, and popular love songs. 

naturally Tony and James had the first dance, swaying to Ronan Keatings When You Say Nothing At All. 

Pepper and Grace dabbed at their eyes to save their mascara while Natasha filmed it on her phone, Harley scoffed at the mushiness before laughing his head off when Emma demanded a dance from Rhodey!

In the end Emma was danced with Rhodey, James, and Tony, a reluctant Harley being dragged onto the dance floor by his Mother and then made to dance with Natasha before he escaped back to the sofa his cheeks flaming and shoulders hunched with embarrassment. 

At the end of the day Tony and James retreated to their bedroom under a shower of confetti and discovered that their room had been made with rose petals non-alcoholic champagne, strawberries, and whipped cream. 

“Pepper’s doing I’ll bet.” Tony said as he unbuttoned his over tunic and hung it onto a hanger, he happily untucked his shirt and gave a sigh of relief when he undid his pants. 

“God, I’ve been waiting for this.” James breathed taking hold of Tony and tugging him to his chest. Laughing Tony went willingly, tilting his head so James could kiss his neck and playfully nip at the skin. Shivering in delight he gently pushed at James’ chest. 

“Wait.” He said his eyes bright with joy and growing arousal. 

“For what?” James protested, refusing to let go of Tony, keeping their hands linked even as Tony headed for the bathroom. “Come to bed Mr Stark-Barnes.”

“In a few minutes, Sergeant, you’ll have to be patient.” Tony said moving closer again so he could kiss James, “I have a surprise for you.”

“Hmm, will I like it?” James asked chasing Tony’s lips with his own. 

“You will.” Tony assured him, “Now go and get the champagne poured and let me get ready.”  
Reluctantly James let Tony go and set about finishing undressing himself and getting the bed turned down, popped the champagne cork and poured two glasses, settling himself down to wait for Tony. 

When the omega returned several minutes later James’ eyes just about popped out of his head and his mouth dropped open with an inelegant noise escaping his lips as he took in Tony’s attire. 

The Omega was wearing a pair of sheer stockings, a high waisted red thong that had suspenders attaching them to the stockings with teasing ribbons decorating them on the thighs, a sheer red teddy cut tight over the bustline with a faux corset style lacing, then filmy material free fell to the hip line where it ended in a black lace hem, which matched the neckline. Tony had even put a velvet bow about his neck to make himself look like a gift ready to be unwrapped. 

“Ready for your wedding present?” He asked James coyly. 

Regaining his wits the Alpha’s eyes smouldered and he growled low in his throat, his appreciation for Tony’s outfit growing when the Omega sashayed across the room deliberately bending to pick up a strawberry and dip it into the cream, showing off his ass as he did so and took his time in licking the cream off the fruit. 

James was practically salivating when he turned back to him and made his way to the bed climbing onto it as gracefully as his advancing pregnancy would allow. James was on him at once, laying him down and getting between his thighs so he could run his hands up and down the tantalizing material of the stockings. 

“You tease.” He growled ducking his head to kiss behind Tony’s knee, trailing kisses up to the suspenders and snapped one with his teeth. He gazed at Tony, spread out beneath him, a sinful sight, his body only partly concealed by the sheer fabric of the provocative nightwear. His nipples, enlarged breasts, belly, and crotch all visible through the filmy fabric that seemed to taunt and tease, begging to be removed so the flesh beneath could be explored. 

Smirking James went back to kissing Tony’s inner thighs, trailing his tongue over them and teasing the sensitive skin to elicit moans and high pitch gasps from the Omega, taking his time in snapping the suspenders and them peeling off the thong and throwing it aside. By now Tony was a mewling and reaching for him, but James wasn’t going to give him what he wanted right away, instead he went back to teasing Tony, tormenting him with feather light touches and kisses, swipes of his tongue and nips of his teeth, making Tony whine and squirm and beg him for more. 

When he couldn’t stand to wait any longer James took Tony into his lap, the feel of the stockings against his skin as Tony wrapped his legs about him was a maddening delight, as was the feel of the teddy beneath his hands as he spanned Tony’s back, lifting him up so he could slide into the Omega’s hot wet body. 

Tony let out a lewd groan and gripped James’ shoulders tight, his inner muscles flexing and clenching as James filled him, the foreplay had brought them both close, James’s knot was half inflated already and it would not take much for either of them to come. 

Locking his legs about James and using his shoulders for support Tony began to lift himself up and down on James’ body, pulling the Alpha closer so they were flush together, James’s face pressed against his chest, greedily nipping at and kissing his breasts through the teddy. Inside him the Pup fluttered and kicked contentedly as Tony rode James as hard as his body would allow, his thighs clenching hard about James holding him tight while the Alpha bucked beneath him and pinched at his buttocks, palming them and squeezing the ample flesh hard enough that there would be marks in the morning. 

Feeling James stiffening beneath him and his knot fully inflating, Tony slowed his thrusts and made them shallower focussing on holding James at the point just before release for as long as he could, and only when he couldn’t hold on any long, he sank fully onto James cock and allowed them both to come. 

Panting and shaking a little James fell back on the bed taking Tony with him their legs tangling together and their hearts racing as they lay on the petal strewn sheets catching their breath. 

“Our first time as husbands.” Tony breathed, “Not bad.”

James sputtered, “Not bad?” he looked at Tony in disbelief making the Omega snort with laughter, narrowing his eyes James playfully slapped Tony’s thigh, “When I get my strength back I’ll give you a lot more than Not Bad, so much so that you won’t be sitting for a week!”

Laughing Tony stretched out and looked at James through his dark lashes, “I truly hope so.”

*****

Hudson Valley Lake House. 

A few weeks after the wedding James and Tony packed up the last of their possessions and moved into their new house in the Hudson Valley. 

As it was fully decorated, the nursery and everything already set up, the two didn’t have anything to do other than to put their clothes and personal items away. The furniture and everything else was already moved in and ready for them, Pepper had a grocery delivery go in the day before they moved in and stocked the cupboards and fridge so they didn’t even have that to worry about. 

While they had eaten together more times either cared to remember, there was something special about eating dinner for the first time in their new home, just the two of them sharing pasta and meat balls at their kitchen table. It was also a joy to go out onto the veranda with coffee and watch the sun setting. 

“How long do you think before Morgan is climbing those trees?” Tony asked leaning his head James’ shoulder. 

“Not long enough.” James said but his attention was on the lake, “Before he or she starts walking I’m gonna put a fence up around the lake.” 

“Good idea,” Tony agreed, open water and small children should not mix without adult supervision and he’d never forgive himself if something happened to Morgan. 

“Maybe I’ll make a boat.” James mused, “A small rowing boat so we can go out onto the lake.”

“That’d be cool.” Tony said. He was still iffy when it came to water but he was a lot better these days and he trusted James to keep him safe in a boat. “We’ll have to look at what wood you’ll need and get the materials. It’ll need panting too so it’s water resistant.” He paused, cocking his head as he heard an odd noise that he and James had been hearing on and off all evening, “What is that?” 

“I’m not sure.” James said, standing up and walking to the edge of the veranda, the noise came again, “It’s coming from in the woods.” He said and headed down the steps and across the lawn. 

“James…”

“I’ll be fine.” James called back over his shoulder, “It’s probably a dog or something.” 

“Never heard a dog sound like that.” Tony muttered. He knew James could take care of himself but he couldn’t help but be worried for him, the light was very poor now and James didn’t have a torch or anything. Nervously he worried at his bottom lip, his heart skipping higher when the noise became louder. 

“James just leave it and come back.” He called out. 

“S’Okay, you’re not gonna believe this, Doll!” James called back to him. Tony waited several more nerve wracking minutes before James returned, bringing with him…. Wait, no, that wasn’t…was it?

“Umm Friday, is that…?”

“An Alpaca Bossman.” Friday helpfully replied. 

“Remember the realtor said there was an Alpaca farm a few miles from here before the snap?” James said as he reached the veranda with said Alpaca which was quite happily walking besides him, “I guess not all the livestock was rounded up when the owners were taken. This little guy must have been wandering the woods.” He scratched the Alpaca’s head getting the odd noise again. “Cute isn’t he? I think we should call him Alfie.”

“Why would we be calling him Alfie?” Tony asked already knowing the answer and cringing at it. 

“He’d make an awesome pet, he’ll mow the lawn for us, keep foxes away.”

“That’s Lamas and there aren’t any foxes.”

“You don’t know that, there might be. And just look how cute he is.” James made baby eyes at Tony and the damn lama whined at him. 

Fuck!

“Fine.” Tony sighed, “But you’re feeding him and walking him, if he needs walking, and cleaning up his shit, and no way in hell is he coming into the house.” 

“He’ll need somewhere to sleep though.” James said, “I can make him something over the next few days but until then…..” The baby eyes were back and Tony hated them, hated how cute the damn Alpaca was and his inability to say no.

“If I step in Alpaca shit or piss you’ll be sleeping on the sofa for a month!”.

Thankfully Alfie managed to do his business outside rather than in the house which earned him the permission to come into the house and sleep on a bed of blankets and towels that James made up for him in the living room every night. 

Loath as he was to admit it, Tony did find Alfie cute. The way he’d put his head up against Tony’s belly and make his humming noise was adorable. He also kept the lawn trimmed and his bathroom visits made for excellent manure for the flowers and vegetables that Tony and James were growing, so within a few weeks Alfie was well and truly part of the family. 

He also earned himself some extra respect when Tony’s health suddenly took a turn for the worst. 

Dizziness and breathlessness hit when Tony was sorting the washing one lazy afternoon. James was outside getting to work on the fence he was determined to build to keep Morgan safe and so wasn’t present when Tony’s head began to spin, and he found himself falling to the kitchen floor. 

Alfie, who’d been nosing around the kitchen in the hope of getting some treats, seeing his human suddenly topple to the ground and not get back up had Alfie worried and he trotted over to Tony, humming worriedly. 

“I’m okay, it’s okay.” Tony said his voice faint and the words strained by the sudden winded feeling he was experiencing. Placing his hands on the counter he tried to get to his feet but his head began to spin again and he had to give up. “James, need James.” He said trying and failing to draw enough air into his lungs to shout. 

Humming Alfie trotted out of the kitchen and headed out over the veranda and down into the gardens, circling the lake to where James was beating a post into the ground. 

“Oh hey Alfie, Tony get sick of you pestering him?” James asked fussing Alfie’s head. He startled when Alfie suddenly grabbed his sleeve and tugged on it, pulling him forward and humming insistently. “What, I don’t have any berries or anything.” James said, but Alfie wasn’t deterred and continued to pull on his sleeve, tugging him in the direction of the house. 

James wasn’t sure why but something inside him knew that there was a good reason for Alfie to be behaving like this, that something important was happening. Stopping fighting the Alpaca, James ran to the house calling Tony’s name as he went. 

“In here.” 

Following the sound of Tony’s voice James found his mate on the kitchen floor panting and looking pale. 

“Dizzy, and I can’t get my breath.” Tony said. 

“Right, we’re going to the hospital right now.” James said, taking hold of Tony and helping him to get him up right. With the Omega’s head spinning so much he had to support practically all of Tony’s weight to keep him from toppling over again. 

“Friday get a car started.” James instructed slowly moving Tony towards the door, he didn’t like the way it seemed Tony was having trouble breathing and wanted to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. 

“The Audi is ready on the drive.” Friday said, “I will alert the obstetrician that you are on your way.”

“Thanks Friday.” James said helping Tony down the steps, “It’s gonna be okay baby, everything is going to be fine.”

“What if it isn’t.” Tony whispered, “What if something’s really wrong with Morgan, what if…” He broke off, unable to finish the sentence, not wanting to think about the possibility of their losing Morgan. 

“Nothing is going to happen to you or Morgan.” James assured him, getting him out to the car and helping him into the passenger seat, he paused and knelt to kiss Tony, holding his face in his hands, “Everything is going to be fine.” He said firmly, “I promise.”

*****

High blood pressure and a risk of pre-eclampsia. 

After running a battery of tests and doing an emergency ultrasound to make sure that the baby was alright, Tony’s obstetrician put him on bed rest until the birth with a strict low sodium low sugar diet to follow. 

This meant that James had to do pretty much everything around the house until Tony was back on his feet. Including the shopping, he enlisted Steve to help with that, as he was going to be stocking up for when the baby came, wanting them to have a months worth of long life milk, pasta, rice, tinned and frozen products so they wouldn’t necessarily have to go out if they really didn’t want to. He was also bulk buying nappies by the truck load as well as nipple cream, baby wipes, talcum powder, and other essentials. 

“Do you really need all this mince?” Steve asked as James filled the trolly with packets of minced beef. 

“I’m gonna make up some chilli’s, lasagne’s, and shepards pies and freeze them down.” James explained, “Tony’s going to need wholesome foods after he’d given birth, and I doubt either of us is going to have the energy to do much more than throw something in the oven, so if these are made in advance then we won’t have to worry.”

Steve clucked his tongue, “Mothers seemed to manage in our day without their Alphas and Betas waiting on them.” 

“Actually they didn’t.” James said in a matter of fact tone, “Their own Mothers, siblings, friends, and neighbours rallied around to help. Bringing them casseroles, and stews, and other meals, helping to do the weekly grocery shop for them, so they didn’t have to try to struggle with a new born, their own health, and running the household.”

Steve didn’t look particularly convinced of this. But remained silent for a while, until James started to read the back of food packets for the nutrition information to check the salt and sugar content. 

“Come on Buck, you don’t have to cater to Stark’s every whim. It’s more than enough that you are doing all of this while he stays in bed all day.” 

James glared over the cereal box, “He’s not in bed because he wants to be. He has high blood pressure, if it gets any higher he’ll get eclampsia, that kills Steve, it kills both Mother and Baby.” He tossed the cereal into the trolly, “I could lose them both Steve, or the Doctor’s might have to delivery Morgan prematurely. This is really serious.”

“Okay, I’m sorry!” Steve said holding up his hands, “I didn’t realize.”   
James raked his hands through his hair and struggled to hold his temper, “I’m really worried for them Steve. I’m worried I could lose one or both of them and I couldn’t bear it if either happened.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Steve said squeezing his flesh shoulder, “They’ll both be fine, and in a few weeks you’ll have your Son in your arms and all of this will be a distant memory.” 

James snorted softly, “I hope you are right.” 

*****

It was just like Tony to do something like this. Steve wasn’t remotely surprised that the Omega had been put on bedrest, wouldn’t be surprised to find that he’d bribed the Obstetrician to tell Bucky that, so he could spend the last weeks of his pregnancy being pampered and waited on instead of pulling his weight. 

What worried him was that Bucky was falling for it hook line and sinker. 

Steve suspected that this would start a trend, that Tony would pull some kind of illness card after the birth, claim he was sick with something, one of those new-age illness that people bleated about, Post-natal depression. As if it wasn’t just a clear case of the Mother needing to get up and get on with things and stop being such a drama Queen. 

He wish Bucky would see sense before it was too late, wished Tony didn’t have such a hold over him, but it seemed nothing he said would make Bucky see the truth. All he could do was wait until the scales fell away from Bucky’s eyes and then rally around and help him raise Morgan when he finally saw the truth.


	25. Chapter 25

Tony’s water’s broke just as James was getting ready for bed. There was a sharp pain and then a rush of fluids that showed that Morgan was on the way. 

James must have broken every driving law there was getting Tony to the hospital, he just put his foot down and didn’t stop until they were there. 

What followed were the most painful hours of Tony’s life but then, as Morgan was placed into his arms Tony forgot about all the pain and suffering as he stared down at his baby girl feeling a rush of love that he never knew was even possible. 

“I can’t believe how small she is.” Steve said keeping a metre away from Tony and Morgan but still being far closer than Tony wanted him to be. Really he didn’t want Steve in the hospital room at all, or anyone but James, he just wanted it to be him and his husband with their baby girl and no one else for now. 

“Can I hold her?” Steve asked James gazing longingly at the sleeping infant in Tony’s arms. 

“No.” Tony immediately said holding Morgan closer to his chest as if afraid that someone would try and take her from him. 

“Tony, I’m not going to hurt her.” Steve said sounded condescending, “I just want to hold my niece for a few minutes.”

“Well I don’t want anyone touching her.” Tony snapped, he shifted in the bed, ignoring the pain between his legs as he curled in on himself taking Morgan with him, using his shoulder as a shield to hide her from view. 

“Doll it’s okay, no one is going to touch her but you and me.” James said, moving to sit on the bed besides Tony and added his own bulk to the body shield, “She’s safe, no one is going to touch her.”

Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, safe, protected. Tony’s inner omega chanted. He breathed in the reassuring scent of his mate and felt the cords in his neck and arm relax.

“Tony you are being ridiculous.” Steve said stepping forward and breeched the one metre distance which had James shooting forward from the head of the bed with snarl that bared his teeth. 

“Get back you idiot!” Rhodey barked, grabbing Steve by the collar and pulling him back, “One metre away or James will beat you to death!”

Steve gave Rhodey a cocky grin, “Bucky’s my best friend, my brother. He wouldn’t….”

“Right now he’s a new Father and a protective Alpha.” Rhodey said cutting Steve off, “Morgan and Tony are his priority right now, not you. Get that through your head.” Pulling Steve further away Rhodey straightened up and directed his next words at Tony who was protectively huddled around Morgan. 

“Tones, we’re going, I’ll be back tomorrow with Pepper. You take it easy alright, I’m really proud of you.”

“We all are.” Natasha said, she pointed at James, “You take care of my new niece or you’ll be dealing with me Yasha.”

With Steve further away James had relaxed a bit and managed a smile for Natasha, “Will do Natalia.” He replied, “Stay sharp now.”

Natasha smirked at him, “Always.” She put her arm through Steve’s and between them she and Rhodey dragged him out of the hospital room leaving James and Tony alone with their daughter. 

James breathed a sigh of relief as Steve was taken away. He couldn’t understand what was going on with his friend. Steve was an Alpha, he knew that no one could approach and new Alpha Father’s pup and mate for the first few days after birth, he knew that you had to wait for a while for the pheromones to settle, so why did he think he would be an exception to the rule?

Left along Tony unfolded, stretching his legs out and relaxing on the bed, letting James see a still sleeping Morgan once more. 

“I’m sorry about Steve.” He said, not sure why he was apologising but feeling the need to do so anyway. 

“He can’t come near her.” Tony said shaking his head, his eyes wide with fierce protection for their daughter. “He can’t touch her, I won’t let him take her!”

Silently James cursed Steve for frightening Tony so much. Anyone with half a brain knew that new Omega Mother’s were emotionally very fragile, their hormones were raging making them prone to fear for their new-born’s safety especially in the first few days after the birth when the bone between mother and infant was so strong. There had been stories of new Omega Mother’s fleeing hospitals all but naked, Pup in their arms, blood running down their legs and pavement tearing up their bare feet as they ran, their protective instincts making them blind and deaf to all reasoning as they sort to protect their Pup. 

This was why Doctors had to be so careful when delivering Omega’s, the wrong word, the wrong move could easily send them running in terror, although that now happened less often since Alpha mates were allowed in the delivery room with the mothers, where years ago they had not been permitted to be there just as Beta Father’s hadn’t. But it had been realized that an Alpha mates presence could help calm the Omega during delivery and directly after the birth helping to prevent things like that happening. 

Very slowly James approached Tony, getting close and letting the Omega breathe in the scent of his body before he spoke, so the scent would help calm Tony’s nerves, and when he spoke he kept his voice soft and calm. 

“No one will get near her, I won’t allow anyone but you and myself to touch her I promise.” 

James’ scent help calm Tony’s frazzled nerves and he nodded his head letting the tension flow out of him. 

In his arms Morgan scrunched her face up and whimpered, a tiny high pitched noise like a kitten meowing for their Mother. She blinked big dark eyes and puckered her lips letting out a louder noise, her tiny hands balling into fists as cried. 

“She’s hungry.” Tony said marvelling at how he knew just what was wrong with his daughter. Carefully he supported her in one arm and pulled down his hospital gown reveal his engorged breast and nipple slowly guiding her mouth to it. 

At first Morgan didn’t seem to understand what she was meant to do, her mouth failing to latch onto the breast and her cries getting more intense in her frustration, but after several minutes of coaxing she got the idea and latched on, suckling down her first milk from Tony. 

Tony’s attention had been completely on Morgan but he became aware of heavy breathing and sniffling which made him look up to see James in tears before him. “Honey?”

James shook his head, “Happy tears.” He sniffed, wiping his face and laughing, “Happy tears. The two of you….damn I haven’t got the words to describe what it is to see you both like this. It’s like I’ve been given everything I ever wanted and everything I didn’t even know I wanted with a million bucks and a golden medal all at the same time!” He sniffed and breathed hard, trying to control his emotions as he gazed at Tony and Morgan, “You are so beautiful Tony, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.”

Wow, pheromones were really amazing, Tony thought with snort of amusement. Right now he probably looked worse than he had in Afghanistan. Hair an un-styled mess, skin blotchy and red from strain, eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying, breasts heavy with milk and his body still round and swollen with baby weight, wearing nothing but a glorified nappy and a hospital gown. Yet James said he was beautiful and actually meant it. 

Yep hormones and pheromones were a wonderful thing. 

*****

Hormones sucked. They completely and totally sucked and Tony hated them with a passion. 

Three days after Morgan’s birth and he couldn’t stop crying. It was like something inside him had snapped and he could do nothing but cry and cry even when she was peacefully sleeping.

Baby Blues. Not to be confused with PND which was far more serious. This was just the hormones in recession combined with fatigue and the overwhelming fact of being a new parent. 

He’d been expecting it, both he and James had been expecting it, had it all explained to them by the obstetrician during their final check up before the birth. That Tony would cry a lot and feel completely out of control and over whelmed for the first two weeks or so after giving birth. It was completely normal and was nothing to worry about. They should only worry if the feelings remained for longer than two weeks, then there was a possibility of PND. 

“I’m sorry.” He said to James, curled up in their bed, Morgan in the bassinet next to the bed happily sleeping after a nappy change and a bath. 

“For what doll?” James asked handing Tony a cup of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows. 

“For being such a wreck.” Tony said drying his red puffy eyes on his dressing down sleeve. His pyjamas and dressing gown were all he’d been wearing since they’d come home from the hospital and sleeping between caring for Morgan was all he’d been doing, well, that and crying his eyes out because he felt like he’d been run over by a truck and had to some how climb up an endless mountain slope with all his limbs shattered. He couldn’t ever remember ever feeling this wretched before in his life, this hollowed out and completely drained of everything to the point that just thinking was a chore. Adding onto that his cramping abdomen, aching breasts, red raw nipples, and the fact he hadn’t had more than two hours of undisturbed sleep-in days and it was hardly any wonder that he was sobbing.

“Oh baby you are not a wreck.” James assured him, kissing Tony’s temple and putting and arm about his shoulders, “You are doing great. Morgan is perfect, she’s growing, she’s healthy, you are doing everything you need to be doing.”

Tony sniffed and hiccupped, “I’m not doing anything.” He croaked, “Just laying in bed looking after her, I’ve not done any of my share of the cooking or cleaning, I haven’t even showered today!”

“And I don’t want you cooking or cleaning right now, I don’t want you doing anything but looking after you and Morgan.” James assured him, “Me and Alfie are on top of everything so you don’t have to worry.”

Tony managed a small smile, “Alfie?”

“Sure, I tied a duster to his head and got him dusting all the services, and a brush to his back hooves so he can sweep up!” This got an actual laugh from Tony which was a very positive step. 

“Now, as for a shower.” James said kissing Tony again, “Why don’t you go and treat yourself to a long hot bath? It’ll relax you, soothe your muscles and joints, and give you a little time to yourself.”

Tony frowned and looked to the bassinet, “Morgan…”

“Is asleep and I’m here.” James said, “You go and take an hour for yourself, you deserve it. Lett Daddy take over for a little while so Mummy can rest.” 

Tony dimpled at the endearing tone. A bath did sound like a wonderful idea, it would certainly help with the cramping in his abdomen as his womb continued to contract and shed it’s lining. 

“You are sure you don’t mind?” 

“Positive.” James said, “Go and enjoy yourself, I’ve got our princess covered.”

Kissing James back and thanking God for such a wonderful mate, Tony went to the bathroom and shut the door starting the bath running and added salts and bubbles, taking the time to light a few candles and some incense. 

“Friday play some light rock, cheerful but relaxing.” He said to the AI as he stripped off making sure he didn’t look in the mirror. He hated the way his body looked right now, he seemed to be sagging and bulging everywhere and hated it. He knew it was perfectly normal and he certainly wasn’t going to deprive Morgan of his milk so he could diet, or drag his exhausted body to the gym to try and work out, especially not when he was still bleeding and sore as hell between his legs, but that didn’t mean he had to like his post pregnant self. 

At least James didn’t seem to mind, although sexy times were definitely off the table for now, between how sore Tony was and how tired they both were sex was out of the question. 

Wincing as he climbed into the bath and letting out a groan of pleasure as he sank into the hot sweet scented water, Tony wondered how people did this to themselves over and over, with how ruined he felt right now he doubted he’d ever want anything inserted in him again, let alone a fully inflated knot! 

But then, as he thought about Morgan and the utter bliss he had felt when she’d first been placed into his arms and he knew that he would gladly suffer worse hell than this just to feel that again. 

Madness. He decided, hormonal madness and baby bewitchment. That was the only explanation.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone has a good Christmas despite the Covid disruptions. Stay Safe, wishing you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thankfully after two weeks Tony’s mood began to lift. He was still emotional but not crying all the time or feeling like he couldn’t do anything right and that his whole life was falling apart. 

Tiredness lingered, as did the soreness and general physical discomfort, but both were to be expected and were manageable with naps when Morgan was asleep and hot baths. 

Morgan was a very good baby, she wasn’t the fussy type and she settled to sleep quickly after being fed and changed, she seemed to especially enjoy being bathed, her little feet kicking in the water and her legs wriggling as Tony or James would hold her and wash her small body. 

“Maybe she is part fish.” James joked as Tony carefully tipped warm water over the back of Morgan’s head to wash the baby shampoo off her scalp. Her tufts of hair were dark and sparse but soft as silk to the touch and Tony loved to stroke his fingers against it, petting Morgan’s head like she was a cat. 

“A mermaid.” Tony agreed beaming down at Morgan, “Is that what you are Morgoona, are you a mermaid?” His reply was a spit bubble and a yawn which he took to mean yes. “Okay I think we’re done, lets get you dry and into a nice new nappy and a nice warm onesie.” 

Very carefully Tony dried every inch of Morgan, making sure every drop of water was off her skin so she wouldn’t get sores. He then powdered her bottom in talc and placed her into a fresh nappy. He and James were now masters at nappy changes, after they had both been pissed and crapped on at least three times a piece, had the nappy fall straight off Morgan because it was too loose, and put the nappy on back to front, they had learned so the mistakes wouldn’t be repeated.

“Here we are, here’s a pretty bunny onesie from auntie Pepper.” James cooed to Morgan, “A pretty onesie for a pretty girl.” He lay out the onesie and helped Tony put Morgan into it tickling her tummy as they did up the poppers. “And now it’s sleepy time.” James said to his daughter, lifting her up and resting her against his shoulder, “Now we go and hit the sack and get all the shut eye we need, don’t we baby girl?” 

Getting to his feet he began to sway back and forth in a gentle rocking motion while chanting a lullaby under his breath. Tony watched with a grin as James swayed his way to the bedroom to set Morgan in the bassinette and set about cleaning up the bathroom before joining James, by which time Morgan was asleep. 

“Wanna try and watch half a movie before she wants us again?” James asked, “We can have hot dogs and popcorn, pretend we’re in a movie theatre?” 

“Sure.” Tony agreed stretching and feeling his back pop, damn he was feeling stiff and not in the good way. “You know I think I’m gonna start those post-partum workouts tomorrow.” He said to James as they headed downstairs. 

“It’s it a bit soon for your to be working out?” James asked with a frown. 

“A full workout yeah, but this is just for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and getting my abdominal muscles to reconnect.” Tony explained, “It’s a lot of stretching and holding poses like yoga, not pounding a treadmill or anything like that.”

“Okay, so long as you don’t over do it.” James agreed, “Although, if you’re up for it, maybe we can take Morgan out for a walk tomorrow? We’ve only taken her into the garden so far and I think it’d be nice for her to get a bit more fresh air.”

Tony nodded, “Okay, a change of scenery would be nice.” He absently patted Alfie’s head as the alpaca hummed appreciatively and settled down besides the sofa as Tony began to look through the movies that were cued up, “Olympus has fallen?” he called to James.

“Sure.” The Alpha agreed getting the hot dog sausages cooking and some buns warming in the oven. Tony selected the movie and held it on pause until James could join him on the sofa with the hot dogs. As always when food was involved Alfie hummed and sniffed until offered some, he snorted and looked away in disgust at what the humans were eating, settling back down to watch the movie with them. 

They got a good two thirds of the way through the movie before Morgan began to cry, Tony headed up stairs to see what she wanted, suspecting a nappy change since it wasn’t very long since she’d last been fed. While he was gone James checked his text messages, rolling his eyes at the ones from Steve. 

Do you want to meet up.  
What are you up too.  
Are you free?  
Wanna go see a game? 

And others to that effect. James had stopped bothering to answer them since the answer was always no because he was rather busy right now caring for his new daughter and recovering mate. Jesus Christ, Morgan wasn’t even three weeks old, did Steve really think he had time to do anything other than be a Father and Mate right now? 

James was very thankful he wasn’t struggling to hold down a job while also doing all of this, he had no idea how he would have coped if he was dealing with work as well as sleepless nights, a crying baby, a very emotionally fragile mate, filthy nappies, endless rounds of washing, and trying to keep up with the housework. 

Really both parents needed to be home during the first few weeks after a birth, the mother obviously need support while recovering from childbirth, thankfully Tony’s delivery had been straight forward with no complications beyond some stitches, but it could have easily been otherwise, and if it had he would have needed a lot more help while he recovered. 

Stark Industries was one of the few companies that paid both Maternity and Paternity leave, many didn’t even pay maternity leave let alone paternity leave, so yes James was very well aware that he was fortunate in the fact that financially he and Tony had no worries, and he wasn’t having to leave Tony to try and manage on his own while he went out for eight hours or more to work. 

That said, he still didn’t have the time to go and do whatever it was Steve wanted to do. Hell, he didn’t even want to go, he didn’t want to leave the happy family bubble he had here with Morgan and Tony. 

Natasha, Rhodey, and Pepper had been far more practical in their calls, asking how James, Tony, and Morgan were doing, if they needed anything, and inviting them out for coffee etc when they were available, not tomorrow or whatever. 

“Well, that’s one stinky Princess’s bottom changed.” Tony said, re-joining James on the sofa, this time with Morgan in his arms, her big eyes blinking and looking around curiously. 

“Were you a stinky Princess?” James asked Morgan, tickling her stomach, Morgan’s huge eyes followed his hand with fascination until Alfie stole her attention, getting up and leaning close to sniff at her and hum. 

One he was satisfied it was the mini-human he’d been living with for the past few weeks he settled back down contentedly. 

Morgan and Alfie’s interactions were always fun to see, Morgan would stare at Alfie’s fuzzy head with wonderment, while Alfie sniffed at her curiously and had nearly jumped out of his fuzzy skin when she had made a noise and moved while he was sniffing her foot. He certainly didn’t like the sound of her crying and usually beat a hasty retreat outside to escape the noise.

“Friday, play the movie.” Tony called out to the AI. “Now Morgan, this is called an Action movie and you are gonna love them, and sci fi, you’re not gonna be into any of that romcom cra….poop. No Ma’am, it’s gonna be the good stuff with the gadgets and explosions.”

“I think she’s probably gonna be Disney obsessed before she becomes sci fi obsessed.” James chuckled, snorted as Tony made a show of covering Morgan’s ears. 

“Don’t you listen to that trash talk baby girl, we both know that you are gonna be a scientist mechanical genius, you are already learning all about the periodic table aren’t you precious?” 

Morgan huffed a deep breath, her eyelids lowering as her small body began to succumb to sleep once again. 

“You’re gonna turn our daughter into a complete geek, aren’t you?” James sighed already picturing Morgan a few years from now in a lab coat, staggering out of a smoking workshop, her hair standing up on end, smudges of smoke on her face along with an ecstatic grin that was matched by Tony’s. 

He could picture it clearly Tony and Morgan would disappear into a lab and probably end up creating a blackhole or something. Morgan would be the first kid in a science fair to have actual lava flowing from a volcano, or an ant colony of robotic self-aware ants, and ten years on the world would be overrun by AI ants! 

“Just promise me you won’t let her handle anything explosive until she’s at least fifteen.” James begged, “I don’t think my heart could take it!”

Tony grinned, “Check, no nitro until fifteen, now what about lasers and blow torches?” 

James groaned and resigned himself to senility within the next decade.

*****

Steve wasn’t happy. 

Bucky wasn’t returning his messages, hadn’t spoken to him at all in days, and had only replied to handful of his messages since the baby was born. 

Natasha said it was to be expected, that Bucky was probably doing nothing but sleeping along with Tony between rounds of caring for Morgan. But why should Bucky need to be sleeping during the day? 

Tony catching a nap while Morgan slept Steve could understand, but Bucky should be sleeping at night, there was no reason he should be getting woken up by the baby, it wasn’t like he could feed her, unless Tony had decided to put her on the bottle instead of nursing her. Steve wouldn’t put it past Tony to do that, to deny Morgan his milk so he could sooner get back in shape. 

Plus, if she was bottle fed, he could shirk the responsibilities of feeding her onto Bucky, which Steve would bet was happening. 

He waited for three weeks with his anxiety over Bucky growing, then rode out to the Hudson Valley, determined to find out what was going on. 

When he arrived at the lake house Steve noted that the family car wasn’t in the driveway and wondered briefly if Bucky and Tony had gone into the City. Parking his bike he went and knocked on the front door. He was kept waiting for several minutes before the door was opened by a tired and decidedly scruffy looking Tony Stark. 

“Rogers.” Tony said his jaw setting in an unhappy line, “James isn’t here.”

Steve frowned, “Where is he?” He demanded pushing his way past the Omega and into the house. 

“He’s gone shopping and keep your voice down.” Tony hissed hurrying after Steve as he picked his way through the untidy house. It wasn’t dirty as such, but it certainly wasn’t tidy, with plates left to drain on the side, washing in a laundry basket waiting to into the machine, washed laundry on the stairs waiting to go up-stairs, and other items just left strewn over the house. 

Steve turned ready to ask Tony what he thought he was playing at, letting the house get in such disarray when he heard a strange noise from behind him. Spinning around he saw an Alpaca standing there. 

“What the hell?”

The Alpaca hummed again and then the distinct cries of a baby filled the air. 

“Oh great, thanks for that Rogers.” Tony spat at him, “Now you’ve gone and upset Morgan.” He shoved past the Alpha, patting the Alpaca on the head as he went by and went up stairs presumably to Morgan, who was wailing loudly. 

Steve scowled at the alpaca which huffed at him and turned away trotting off through the house. 

“Damn Stark, can’t he just get a dog or something?” Steve asked, following after Tony. He found the Omega in the master bedroom rocking a crying Morgan back and forth. 

“Stark…”

“What the hell, get out!” Tony shouted at him, distressing Morgan more and making her cries increase. 

“For heaven sakes Stark calm down, I’m not going to do anything to you.” Steve said resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, he frowned at the bassinette, “Why is that in here, doesn’t she have a nursery?” 

“It’s easier for me to get up to her in the night.” Tony replied, “She’ll sleep in the nursery when she’s older.” 

“And where does Bucky sleep?” 

“With me dumbass, where else?” Tony scoffed as he tried to soothe Morgan, “Now will you please give me some fucking privacy?” 

“Language, there’s a child present.” Steve scolded, “God sake Stark, can’t you do anything? You’ve got Bucky running around after you, doing jobs you should be doing, like the grocery shop, while you just sit around and do nothing. Look at you, you’re a complete mess, you aren’t even dressed, it’s nearly midday and you’re in pyjamas, this place is a pig stye, you’ve got farm yard animals running around, and you’re swearing in front of a child, one which you can’t even stop from crying.”

“I said get out!” Tony shouted holding Morgan tighter to his chest. His agitation was making her upset and increasing her crying, which was in turn adding to Tony’s agitation. 

“Give her to me.” Steve snapped, “I’ll settle her.” He took a step forward with his arms outstretched and Tony threw himself back, scrambling over the bed with Morgan clutched tight against him.

“Don’t touch her, get away from her.” He bellowed. 

“Tony you are being ridiculo…” Steve broke off having to duck as a hairbrush, followed by several other items were thrown at his head by Tony. 

“Now get out!” Tony screamed. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Bucky suddenly roared as he appeared in the doorway.


	27. Chapter 27

James had a feeling there was something wrong the moment Alfie met him in the drive humming and huffing and trying to tug him towards the house. 

Worried that something like the pre-eclampsia had happened James had abandoned the car and shopping and torn into the house half expecting to find Tony passed out or something. But what he was greeted with was the sound of shouting from upstairs, Tony shouting for someone to get out accompanied by Morgan screaming at the top of her lungs. 

With a feral snarl James tore up the stairs to his and Tony’s bedroom, finding Steve of all people ducking objects that Tony was throwing at him, while cradling Morgan to his chest. 

“The fuck is going on?” He demanded looking from Steve to Tony. 

Tony looked terrible, his eyes were blood shot and full of tears, his face was ashen white and he was shaking like a leaf as he held Morgan in an almost death grip, as if fearing that someone would snatch her away from him. 

“Bucky.” Steve sighed, his shoulders relaxing and a relieved look crossing his face, “I’m sorry about all this.” He said gesturing to Tony, “I wanted to come and see how you were doing and Tony over reacted to my being here and started to become hysterical.” 

“Liar!” Tony screamed, while trying to soothe a very agitated Morgan. “He forced his way in here, tried to snatch Morgan from me, and said I wasn’t doing a good enough job caring for her.” Tony’s voice went hoarse at the end and ducked his head, turning away as he tried to shoosh Morgan’s sobs. 

“I didn’t force my way in anywhere Stark.” Steve snapped, “Ans its clear you aren’t doing a good job,” He gestured at Morgan, “She’s been howling for ten minutes, and look at the state of you bawling your eyes out like a damn child, not getting dressed, and at least trying to be a good mate and Moth…” 

Steve didn’t get to finish the sentence as two vice like hands wrapped about his neck and dragged him backwards out of the room with such force and speed that Steve didn’t even have time to defend himself. He was brought to a dead stop at the top of the stairs when he came face to face with what might as well have been the Winter Soldier for all the blankness of James’ face, but unlike the soldier whose eyes reflected nothing, there was a rage burning in James’ eyes that Steve had never seen before. He opened his mouth to protest before the words never got out as James’ metal fist smashed into his face, breaking his nose and sent him toppling down the stairs. 

Dizzy, and feeling like he might have broken a rib or two, Steve struggling to sit up as James stormed down the stairs towards him. 

“How dare you?” He growled, his voice a deep and predatory rumble, almost animalistic in its ferocity. 

“Bucky…” Steve said only to get another punch to the face that had him spraying blood from his split lips and twisting to the side, which gave James the chance to grab him from behind, getting his arms under Steve’s and wrapping them around the back of Steve’s neck, pushing his head forward and putting pressure on his neck and his throat in the deadlock position. 

“You dare come into my home, insult and upset my mate.” James snarled dragging Steve to the door, “Frighten my baby girl…”

“I didn’t.” Steve protested, trying to squirm free, but James’ grip was unbreakable and it was hard to breath with his head pushed forward over his throat. 

“You invade our bedroom, try to put your filthy hands on my daughter, frightening my mate to point of tears!” James dragged Steve outside threw him over the side of the veranda fence and down onto the lawn. Bracing his hands on the fence he jumped up and over, landing in front of Steve who was on his hands and knees. 

“I should gut you for all you have done.” He spat, treating Steve to a kick around the face which split open his cheek and cracked the bone, “I should tear your intestines out and spread them over my garden, for the shit you’ve done.”

Another kick another punch, “Hell I should hang you up by them and let the world see what I do to abusive Alphas like you!” James swung his leg around to deliver another kick but this time Steve caught his leg and delivered a vicious punch to his thigh numbing James’ leg and making him lose balance. As he fell to the ground Steve got on top of him punching him in the face. 

“This isn’t you Bucky.” He cried, trying to pin James down, “This is Stark, some kind of mind washing, like Hydra. This is the soldier taking over again.” 

James got a leg free and drove his knee into Steve’s kidney, the other Alpha crumpled and James flipped him off his body, scrambling over and straddling him, he blocked the punch Steve tried to throw at him and delivered another to Steve’s face, his metal fist wrapping about Steve’s throat and squeezing. 

“I am not the Winter Soldier.” He spat into Steve’s face, “I am James Buchanan Stark-Barnes, former Sergeant in the Howling Commandos, POW for seventy years.” He tightened his grip on Steve’s throat enjoying the colours that sprung to Steve’s face, “I am in complete control of my faculties, I am completely aware of what I am doing, I am protecting my mate and Daughter from you, and making sure you can never hurt them again.” 

Steve’s eyes bulged and he gripped uselessly at James’ wrist, “Bucky!” He rasped desperately. 

“See you in hell Rogers.” James whispered tightening his grip even more and prepared to crush Steve’s wind pipe, only for a frightened cry to startle him out of doing so. 

“James no!” 

James whipped his head around, his grip on Steve’s throat loosening enough for the other Alpha to suck in much needed air and start coughing beneath James’ weight. 

Tony stood out on the veranda, Morgan against his chest, her cried having quietened but not stopped. “Don’t do it.” He said shaking his head, “He isn’t worth it.” 

The reasonable part of James agreed with this statement, Steve was not worth the hassle killing him would bring. While he could probably claim that he had suffered “Alpha Rage” a condition that Alpha’s sometimes suffered when they felt that their mates and pups were in danger. It would take a lot of proving, and with his previous history as the Winter Soldier, it wouldn’t look good to the police or social service. 

The Alpha part of him naturally disagreed, seeing Steve as a threat and wanting to get rid of him permanently. 

“Please!” Tony pleaded, “We are so happy here James, this is our home, our daughter’s home, don’t let him ruin that for us.”

James felt Steve jerk beneath him and glanced down at his former friend. The Alpha inside him raged to kill, wanting to destroy the threat, to protect his family, to make Steve a warning to any opportunistic Alphas and Betas around as to what would happen if they threatened his mate. But he knew Tony was right, if he did give into the instinct it would taint their happy home, would leave a dark shadow over their lives when they were trying to escape the shadows of their past and build a better and brighter future. 

With a snarl James shoved himself to his feet and stepped back from Steve. “Get off my property.” He spat, having to forcibly restrain himself from finishing what he’d started. 

“Bucky…” Steve whispered, staggering to his feet. His face was running with blood, bruising swelling over his cheek, his eyes, and his throat. He was clutching at his ribs as he gazed pleadingly at James. 

“Just go and do not come back.” James growled, “I never want to see you again.” He turned away, meaning to go to Tony and Morgan and take them inside, but Steve in his infinite stupidity grabbed his shoulder trying to pull him back, saying that James didn’t mean it only to get backhanded by the snarling Alpha. 

“I mean every word Rogers!” He bellowed at Steve, “I want you gone, out of my life for good.” His hands trembled with the effort it took to keep himself under control as he glared at Steve. “I have given you chance after chance, took you back into my life when I should have kicked you to the damn curb the first time I saw you raise your hand. Instead like an idiot I took you back, gave you the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe you could be decent person, a friend to me. But now I see you for what you are. A bully. A self-entitled, prejudiced, piece of shit and I want you out of my life and away from my family, do you understand me?”

Tears were brimming in Steve’s eyes and he took a shaky step forward reaching out, “Bucky.”

“My name is James!” James shouted, “James not Bucky, James. Bucky died seventy fucking years ago falling from a train in the alps and so did our friendship.” His lips curled into a nasty sneer, “Get over it, move on and leave me and my family alone, or I swear I will finish that job I started over the Potomac.”

Giving Steve one last hard look James turned and marched back up to the house, joining Tony and Morgan. “You’ve got ten minutes Rogers.” He said not looking at him anymore, “Get the fuck off my property or I will personally remove you in whatever way I see fit.” With that he ushered Tony and Morgan into the house and slammed the door behind them. 

*****

Shaking like a leaf and unable to stop the tears running down his bloody cheeks Steve stared at the closed door. 

This could not be happening, it could not be real, Bucky couldn’t mean what he had just said, couldn’t want Steve gone from his life, couldn’t want their friendship to be over. This had to be Stark, something Stark had done, some kind of mind control, making Bucky forget who he really was. 

Steve longed for Wanda who could have undone what Tony had done to James, could have made him see the truth. But she was gone, turned to ash with so many others. 

Part of Steve wanted to stay but he knew that Bucky would carry out his threat of removing him if he didn’t leave and he didn’t want to fight his friend again, so with great reluctance he made his way to his bike, chasing away the Alpaca that was taking a piss over the wheels. 

“This isn’t over Buck.” He said as he started the engine, “I’ll bring you back, I’ll save you I promise.”

*****

“Are you alright?” 

Tony stared at James incredulous, “Am I alright, what about you?” He asked having finally settled Morgan, “That was your best friend you just fought and nearly killed.”

“Bastard deserved it.” James growled stroking Morgan’s downy head and felt some tension easing out of him as she made a happy gurgling noise. “I’m sorry.” He said to Tony, “I should never have let him back into our lives, I should have cut ties with him for good and then none of this would have happened.”

“Hey no, don’t do that.” Tony said, “Don’t reproach yourself for being a good person and giving second chances. This is on Steve, not you, don’t blame yourself for his actions.”

James took a deep breath and let it out, studying Tony, “He didn’t hurt you did he, I mean, not physically?” Tony shook his head.

“He just shot his mouth off and freaked me out trying to take Morgan from me.”

“Well don’t listen to anything he says.” James said putting an arm around Tony and held the other loosely about Tony and Morgan. “You are doing a perfect job, he’s got some idiot notion in his head of the nineteen thirties/forties mothers, who did everything without the Alpha’s or Beta husbands ever pitching in and lending a hand.” 

Tony nodded, “I would blame his up bringing but you aren’t like that, you’ve modernized, and he’s had enough time to adjust too.”

“He has, he just doesn’t want to.” James grunted, “Though I doubt that if he’d got his dream and married Peggy Carter that she’d have put up with his idealistic crap, she was a career woman, she’d have demanded equal respect and not given up everything to care for kids while Steve did as he pleased.”

Tony could well agree with the statement, Peggy Carter would not have become a doormat housewife for any Man, she’d have soon told Steve to shove it if he hadn’t pulled his weight in caring for any children they’d had. “I’m still sorry that you’ve lost a friend.” He said to James. 

“Not much of a friend when he can’t support me and my family.” James said, “And you and our princess are more than enough to fulfil my life. Aren’t you poppet?” He leaned down and rubbed his nose against Morgan, making her gurgle and widen her eyes in delight, she whined when he pulled back and flexed her fingers, opening and shutting her mouth, a sure sign she was hungry. 

“Looks like its dinner time.” Tony said shifting her weight. 

“Okay, well you see to feeding her and I’ll get the shopping in from the car before all the frozen products defrost.” James said, he might have felt a little bad about leaving Tony to tend to Morgan like that, but with Morgan on the breast there wasn’t anything he could do until she’d done feeding and was ready to be burped, and then changed soon after, not a pleasant job but a very regular one and James was becoming pretty adept at holding his breath while dealing with toxic nappies. 

Alfie greeted him with a happy hum as he made his way to the car making James smile and pat his head, he glanced at the spot he and Steve had fought in and sighed. Part of him mourned for the lost friendship, but somewhere deep inside he knew that this was inevitable, at least now it was over with and he could focus on his family and leave the past completely in the past where it belonged.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now the whole of the UK is on lockdown again. What a start to a new year. Stay safe everyone xoxoxo

Compound.

Natasha knew something had gone down. Steve coming home battered and bloody was a dead give away but he was remaining tight lipped about the whole thing, mumbling something about an argument before hurrying off to hide in his room. 

She considered calling James but she didn’t want to disturb him and Tony. She knew back from when Clint and Laura had their children that phone calls were not always appreciated as they disturbed the babies sleeping, and the parents much needed sleep. 

Thinking about Laura, Nate, Cooper, and Lila still made Natasha’s eyes fill with tears and her throat tighten. She loved those kids like they were family. They were her family, the closest she would ever get to having children of her own. Laura had been the sister she had never had. 

The other Widows in the red room had not formed bonds, it was something the matrons had actively discouraged the girls from doing, and by discouraged Natasha meant they were beaten bloody and left to starve for days on end if they were caught showing any signs of friendship to one another. 

Any show of such human behaviour was considered a weakness that had to be beaten out of them. 

At the time Natasha had realised how baren her life was, how devoid of love she had been and how much that had traumatized her. Not until Clint came into her life and allowed her into his life, introducing her to Laura, who had been expecting Cooper at the time. 

Having never been around a pregnant beta before Natasha hadn’t really known how to act, had been both fascinated and repulsed by Laura’s big belly and milk heavy breasts. She had felt completely inept and lost for what to do when she had felt the baby kick inside Laura’s womb. 

It had been so alien to her, this perfect moment of domesticity, a happy wife and mother-to-be sharing with her the joy of the life within her body. 

Laura had been welcoming to Natasha, had answered her hesitant questions when Natasha had finally found the words to ask them. Saying that yes she was scared of the birth, of the hours of pain she had to face and of something going wrong for her or for the baby. She’d also said that while she did not enjoy the morning sickness, or appreciate the stretch marks or backache, the joy and love she felt for her unborn child more than made up for the unpleasant side effects of pregnancy.

Natasha had been torn between thinking that Laura was the bravest Beta woman she had ever met or the most demented, for actually choosing to go through all this, have her body taken over and changed by this being which, when born would be completely dependent upon her, take over her whole life and take away any and all freedom she had. 

However, the first time she had held Cooper and gazed down into his tiny face Natasha had understood Laura’s reasoning. 

Despite all that Laura had endured, despite the tremendous burden a new-born was upon the parents, it was all worth it. Because nothing in the world could be a precious as a tiny new-born baby. 

She had felt the same awe for Lila and Nate, adoring them just as much as Cooper. Admiring Laura’s ability to manage looking after three children and Clint. 

Becoming Auntie Nat had been the greatest gift she had been given and to no longer be Auntie Nat was the most painful loss she had endured. 

Part of her, an optimistic part that she generally kept quiet and buried deep down inside herself, was hoping that maybe she could be Auntie Nat to Morgan. 

The little Pup was adorable, she would in no way replace Cooper, Lila, or Nate, but she would manage to fill some of the empty spaces in Natasha’s heart. 

The sound of jet boots and heavy metal thumping the ground outside had Natasha rising from her seat at the kitchen counter and heading to the entrance hall to meet Rhodey, who had a face like thunder. 

“Where is he?” The Colonel snarled.

“What, who?” Natasha asked having jog to keep up with the man as he marched through the compound. 

“Rogers. Who else?” Rhodey growled, “Rogers!” He bellowed, his voice making Natasha wince. 

“What’s going on?” She asked already fearing the worst. What had the idiot done now? 

“Colonel?” Steve asked, finally appearing with a frown, he had changed his clothes and cleaned the blood from his face, but the bruising was still puffy and eyes were swollen. “What’s this abo…” He didn’t get any further as Rhodey’s gauntlet covered fist smashed into his face knocking him down onto his backside!

“Whoa, okay that’s enough!” Natasha cried, getting between the downed Steve who was clutching at his broken nose, blood seeping through his fingers, and the enraged Colonel. 

“Back off Natasha, you don’t know what this is about.” Rhodey growled. 

“You’re right, I don’t, so why don’t you tell me.” She said keeping herself between the two of them for the moment. Part of her wanted to duck for cover, was screaming at her for putting herself in danger like this, but she knew Rhodey wouldn’t hurt her, he wouldn’t attack her, not without provocation, which also meant he had a reason for punching Steve, one she wanted to know. 

“This sack of shit forced his way into Tony’s home, upset him and Morgan and tried to take Morgan from his arms!” Rhodey snarled. 

“That’s a lie!” Steve said staggering to his feet.

“Oh don’t try to deny it.” Rhodey spat at him, “James sent the video that Friday recorded, he’s taken it to the Police so he can get a restraining order on your sorry ass.”

“What?” 

Steve actually had the audacity to look shocked by this as if it was a surprise that James would want to take legal measures to keep him away from his mate and Pup. 

“I take it James is the one who rearranged your face then?” Natasha spat at him, “Jesus Christ Rogers what the hell were you thinking? You are lucky James didn’t kill you. I would have done had you threatened my mate and Pup.”

“I didn’t threaten them!” Steve protested glaring at the scoff Rhodey gave. “Stark was hysterical, crying and not taking care of Morgan, the house is a tip, he’s not even dressed or brushed his hair, he’s just lounging around in pyjamas doing nothing to take care of the house, get himself back in shape, or care for the baby, while Bucky has to do everything!” His sentence finished with cry of pain as Natasha backhanded him across the face. 

“Are you naturally this stupid or do you have to work at it?” She sneered at him. “Tony gave birth three weeks ago. He’s still recovering, he’s not that young, his body is going to need more time than this to get over the birth. As for not getting dressed or brushing his hair or doing house work? Clint didn’t shave for the better part of a month when Cooper was born, Laura was living in her nightdress, the house was a disaster because they had no energy to do anything but sleep between caring for Cooper.”

“As for Tony being hysterical, it was your presence that made him so.” Rhodey growled, “You frightened him.”

Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest, a stance his used to show off how broad his chest and shoulders were. 

“I did nothing but reason with him.” 

“Bullshit, and you went into their bedroom, where he was trying to comfort Morgan whom you’d woken from a nap.” Rhodey snapped, “You invaded the sanctuary of an emotionally fragile new Mother with his Baby in his arms. Natasha is right, you are lucky James didn’t just kill you, many Alphas in his position would have, hell I’m not an Alpha and I would have had your neck for it.”

“Bucky is my friend, my Brother, he wouldn’t do this unless Tony was influencing him.” Steve said, “I need to speak to him, get him to see sense.”

“No you stay away from them.” Natasha said as Rhodey looked ready to power up the gauntlets and fire them at Steve. Part of her was tempted to just let him do it. 

“James had gotten a restraining order put on you, if it is granted, and it likely will be, that means you cannot approach him, Tony, or Morgan, contact them in any way until the order runs out. If you do then you’ll go to prison.”

Steve shook his head, “It won’t be granted.” He said with certainty, “I’m Captain America, Bucky is my brother, no one will put a restraining order on me. The police will see that Tony is blowing everything out of proportion and once they tell Bucky that he’ll calm down and see reason too.”

Rhodey snorted and shook his head, “You can try talking sense into this dumbass, I’m done here.” He said to Natasha and then pointed at Steve, “You go near them and the cops will be least of your worries Rogers, I’m warning you, if you go near Tony and Morgan again, there won’t be enough left of you lily white ass for the cops to arrest.”

With a nod to Natasha, Rhodey headed for the doors and as soon as he was outside he took off into the skies leaving Natasha to deal with Steve and his idiocy. 

“It’ll be fine Nat, there won’t be any restraining order.” Steve said giving her a smile, “This will all blow over, it’s just Tony being his dramatic self as always.”

Natasha snorted and headed for her bedroom via the medbay, she needed something stronger than asprin for this headache. 

*****

Steve was shocked when the restraining order was issued to him the next day, the officer explaining to him that he was not to get within two hundred yards of Tony, James, or Morgan. Not to call, text, or e-mail them for the next twenty-four months, or he risked doing a hefty fine and/or jail time.

“Bucky wouldn’t do this to me.” He whispered staring at the court order in shock. “This is Stark’s doing, it has to be. He’s manipulating Bucky somehow.”

Crumpling the order into a ball Steve tossed it into the trash and began to pace. He had to speak to Bucky, had to get him to see sense, get him away from Tony, or at least make him see Tony’s true colours, if he could do that then they could put all this behind them. 

Steve would bet that Tony was the one who got this stupid order, not Bucky. Well, Steve would just have to show him how little he thought of such things and how Tony would have to do a lot better if he wanted to get between Steve and his Brother.


	29. Chapter 29

Steve really couldn’t believe it when the restraining order was granted and issued ordering him to keep two hundred yards away from Tony, Morgan, and Bucky. He was also not allowed to phone, text, or e-mail them either for the next two years. 

He could only assume that Tony’s endless wealth had funded this travesty of justice. That the Omega had bribed the courts just as he had with Ultron. 

Well, this time Steve wasn’t just going to sit back and take it, not when his friend, his Brother was on the line. 

Of course this wouldn’t be easy, with Friday monitoring the house and Tony in control of the machine, he couldn’t just walk right in without the police being called. He had to either find a way to disable Friday or catch Bucky outside of the house. 

Disabling Friday was not something Steve was capable of doing, he didn’t have anywhere near enough grasp of technology to know how to do such a thing, which left him with option two. 

Catch Bucky outside of the house. 

First he needed to learn Bucky’s routine and to do that he needed to watch the house and see all the comings and goings. 

As Natasha was displaying her irritation with him by giving him the silent treatment, Steve didn’t bother to tell her where he was going, he just backed up a bag with food, water, and a few changes of clothes and set off for the Hudson Valley.   
If there was one thing he knew how to do it was how to sleep rough, he’d done it enough times with the commandos, slept under the stars with nothing but his fellow soldiers bodies to keep him warm. He wondered if Bucky even remembered that, would have to remind him when all of this was over, talk to him about all the good times they’d had together, help him to remember. Maybe they could go camping together and relive it. Take Morgan on her first camping trip. 

Steve smiled, if there was one good thing Tony Stark had done in his life it was bring Morgan into the world. Steve was thankful for that and he would make sure Bucky had all the help he needed to bring her up. 

His little Niece. He hadn’t even held her yet thanks to Tony. 

Just another thing to add to the list of slights Stark had given him over the years. 

Well no more. It ended right here. 

*****

Hudson Valley.

With Morgan fed, washed, changed, and dressed in a fresh onesie and currently enjoying a post-breakfast nap, Tony had more than ten minutes to spend on getting himself ready for the day. 

One of tips he’d read on helping yourself after giving birth was to make some effort in your appearance. Nothing overly fancy, just bothering to do something with your hair beyond running a brush through it, putting on actual clothes that weren’t pyjamas, just doing something that helped you feel good about yourself. 

Feeling quite sick of wearing Pyjamas Tony was more than happy to scrap them and wear something else. He also wanted to get his goatee trimmed and his face shaved, his hair too could do with trim but that would have to wait until he went to a hair dressers besides a little gel could see to that with no problem. 

He took his time shaving his face and shaping his beard, getting his goatee in perfect trim before he took a shower and saw to his hair, taming it with a little gel so it would hold in place. He then added some after shave to give his body a pleasant scent that wasn’t just pheromone related and set about finding himself something to wear. 

Of course his clothing choices were limited. His jeans weren’t going to fit at least not if he wanted to breathe so it was either maternity jeans or yoga pants. As it was pretty warm Tony opted for yoga pants choosing a pair that sculpted his body and show cases his ass which James would love. Tony certainly wasn’t complaining about the fullness of his backside, right now he had a perfect plump butt that looked ripe in the yoga pants. 

“Daddy will appreciate this, Morgoona.” He said to Morgan as he selected a shirt to go with the yoga pants, a three quarter length sleeved T-shirt with buttons to the waist that would make for easy access when it was time to feed Morgan again. He finished the ensemble with a pair of bright red trainers that were wonderfully comfy for his feet and gave himself a once over in the mirror. 

“Not too bad considering.” He said to Morgan, his waist was slowly returning, he’d lost the puffiness in his face and limbs, he no longer looked like he had a double chin or chipmunk cheeks. He had shadows under his eyes but then he generally did have shadows, having been on a permanent sleep deficit. “Shall we go and surprise Daddy and show him that Mamma remembers how to get dressed properly?” 

Morgan gave a snuffle and wrinkled her nose, smacking her lips and flexing her fingers as she continued to snooze. 

“God, how cute are you? This is the ultimate in cuteness, Friday isn’t this the ultimate cuteness?”

“Absolutely Boss.” Friday replied. 

“See, even your big sister agrees.” Tony told the Pup, lifting up her carrier and carefully taking her downstairs, making sure he didn’t jostle her so she wouldn’t wake up. 

Following his nose he went through to the kitchen where coffee was brewed and James was finishing off breakfast. 

“Tada!” Tony said as he entered the kitchen giving James a twirl, “See, no pyjamas!”

“Hey, damn, you got a hot date that I don’t know about?” James asked giving Tony a appreciative once over.

“Yep, a very attractive older Alpha has caught my eye.” Tony said, setting Morgan down and making a beeline for the coffee. Dear God it was so good to drink real coffee again and not that decaf crap he’d been forced to survive on. 

“Huh, is this a good time to tell you that spunky little Omega had caught my eye too?” James asked with a wry grin, playing along with the banter, “I mean I don’t want to upset you, but I just can’t resist those big brown eyes of his, or his cheeky backside which he shows off in very tight pants.”

“Not at all.” Tony said gulping down his first cup of coffee and then taking a refill to drink slower, “After all I’m going to be schmoozing with a big buff Alpha with haunting grey/blue eyes and a chiselled jawline, not to mention his sinfully eye cheekbones.”

“Oh I can’t possibly compete with that.” James sighed setting bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit on to plates which he set on the table. “I’ll just have to content myself with my Omega.” 

“And his cheeky backside.” Tony said taking his seat and picking up a fork to dig in. Breast feeding made him extra hungry and he was grateful for every meal right now.

“Very cheeky.” James said taking his own seat, “In fact I might have to give that backside a slap or two later.” 

Tony grinned, “Promise?” 

Chewing a mouthful of bacon James grinned and reached for his orange juice, “You’re pretty bright this morning.” He said when he’d swallowed. “Feeling better, or…. You know, less…”

“Like the living dead?” Tony offered, “Yeah, I am.” He shrugged, “I’m tired and still achy in places, but I am feeling more like myself and I think the exercises are helping with the aches, my joints don’t feel as stiff, and I’ve finally stopped bleeding, which I know is TMI but I was starting to think the spotting would never stop!”

James snorted and shook his head, “After seeing our princess born there is not such thing as TMI in this household. You can’t get much more extreme than the sight of a child emerging from a body.”

“Kinda gross?” 

“Well not gross just…. Not something someone who is squeamish should ever see.”

James could never say that Morgan had been gross, not even when she’d been covered in blood and other substances right after coming out of Tony, but she had certainly become prettier once she’d been cleaned up. The real gross bit had been the afterbirth, that lump of bloody flesh could only be described as gross.   
Presently Alfie trotted into the kitchen and hummed making his way over to the table to see what food was available. 

“Hey buddy, want some melon?” Tony asked getting a piece of melon for him. Alfie bent his fluffy head and sniffed the melon before happily munching on it. 

“Better than a guard dog is our Alfie.” James said patting the Alpaca’s back, “You gonna help me work on this fence today Alfie, or are you gonna watch Tony point his ass at the sky?”

“It’s yoga!” Tony said, “It’s called Downward Dog.” He rolled his eyes at James’ snort, “Get your mind out of the gutter.” 

“How can I when you are showing your ass off in those pants?” James protested, “I’m only flesh and blood and if you are going to be wearing things like that and doing poses like that then I can’t be held responsible for my actions.” 

Tony gave him a doubtful look, “The court is not buying your statement Sergeant Barnes, the judge is unmoved by your testimony and will pass of a sentence of continued self-restraint.”

“For how long?” James asked actually pouting, “And while we’re on the subject, what qualifies as a lack of self-restraint, are hands allowed?”

“It depends where they are put.”

“On your ass?” 

Tony’s lips twitched, “Maybe.”

“Boobs?” 

“Absolutely not, they are too sore.”

“Thighs?” 

“Depends how high your hands go.”

“Here?” James ran his hand up the inside of Tony’s thigh and gave a gentle squeeze that had Tony squirming in his seat, “How about here?” He asked walking his fingers up Tony’s crotch. 

Tony groaned, his non-existent libido was finally sparking back to life, at the breakfast table no less!

“Maybe we could fool around a little tonight?” James tentatively suggested. He wasn’t trying to push Tony into anything, but he did miss their intimacy and he wanted Tony to know that if he was feeling up for it then James was very much keen to get back to their relations pre-baby. 

Tony bit his bottom lip and looked at Morgan, “She’s sleeping right now.” He said, “Why wait for tonight when we have free time now?”

James’ eyes lit up, he shoved back his chair and lifted Morgan’s travel cot, “You stay nice and asleep princess, Mamma and Daddy need their adult time.” He told her carrying her back upstairs and placing her securely in the nursery before all but running to his and Tony’s bedroom, tearing off his clothing as he went. He tripped on his jeans and fell face first on the bed, making Tony snort with laughter as he shoved off his own clothing and joined the enthusiastic Alpha, tossing him a bottle of lube. 

“I’m still a little tender there, so let’s ease the way?” He said turning and laying on his back, his knees bent, legs spread and the most come hither look on his face that he could manage. 

“Easy does it.” James agreed getting his fingers well slicked up and adding a generous amount to Tony’s entrance, taking great care in preparing the Omega’s body, stretching him and adding so much lube that Tony was soaked with it and whimpering beneath him, his nervous tormented and body achingly empty. 

“God I’ve missed this.” James breathed slicking up his engorged cock, “It’s been way too long Doll.” It had been nearly two months in fact since they’d last made love and both of them were eager for this, so much so that James nearly came as soon as he was sunk inside Tony’s body. 

He bit his lip, forcing himself to hold back and not shoot his load right away like a teenage boy who’d only just started to knot. Tony leaned up and caught his mouth in a kiss, pulling James down onto him so they were flush together. 

“Don’t hold back.” He whispered in James’ ear, “Take me fast, if we’re lucky we can have another go before she’s awake again.” 

Tony’s words spoke directly to James’ crotch and he began to move, sliding in and out of Tony’s body as fast as he dared kissing Tony’s throat and down his chest enjoying the added spice of Tony’s aftershave that mingled with his natural scent. Tony writhed beneath him, bucking his hips to meet every thrust and clenched down on James’s throbbing cock as it moved inside him, hitting his prostate and teasing his over sensitized flesh. He gripped hard to James’ back wanting to be completely enveloped by his alpha, have his whole being buried beneath him while being filled by him. 

“Tony!” James panted lifting his head just as Tony was on the cusp, “Baby!” 

Closing his eyes Tony sank into a deep kiss, his cry of passion becoming lost in James, his own cry was lost inside Tony as they clung to each other gradually falling limp on the bed. 

After a few minutes James pushed himself up and looked down at Tony’s flushed face, “That sure blew the cobwebs off eh?” 

Tony huffed and snort of laughter and pushed at James’ shoulders, the Alpha pushed himself up making to get off Tony, but was surprised when he was straddled and chuckled as Tony climbed on top of him and pushed down on his chest. 

“Well, this is nice.” James said wrapping his hands around Tony’s hips, “Hi.”

“Hi.” Tony said leaning down over James and peppered soft kisses over his face, and lips, “Lets warm up for round two.”


	30. Chapter 30

“Nappies, wipes, talcum powder, nappy sack, spare onesie, and penguin plushie check.” James listed as he checked over the baby supply bag and Morgan’s favourite toy. 

The stuffed penguin had been a gift from Rhodey when she was a day old, she’d been sleeping with it ever since and would cry for it if she didn’t have it. 

“Spare shirts for us, emergency deodorant if needed, water bottles, and possibly Valium tablets!” Tony said adding these items to the bag except for the Valium which he had been joking about. 

“Damn, this is like a military operation.” James said with a scoff, “All we need is some Grunts running around outside with a drill sergeant barking orders at them!” 

Tony grinned, “I think Morgan is ordering us around well enough, aren’t you madam?” He tapped her on the nose making Morgan’s eyes widen in surprise, when he did it again she stretched her mouth into a smile and let out a noise that could only be a giggle. 

“Oh she’s smiling, she’s really smiling now.” Tony said, James rose an eyebrow sceptically, Tony had been insisting Morgan had been smiling several times before now and it had only been gas or pooping induced facial expression. 

“Watch.” The genius said to James and booped Morgan on the nose again. Morgan’s eyes lit up and she smiled delightedly at the action. 

“Well fu…fudge me!” James said quickly catching his language, it might be some time before Morgan started talking, but Tony had been an early developer and they did not need her picking up bad words from them, so they were both making the effort to curb their language around her. 

“Whose a happy princess eh?” Tony cooed at their daughter, picking her up and holding her above his head, “And she’s flying, she’s a flying baby!” They had learned that Morgan liked to be swooped through the air as if she were flying, it helped settle her when she was struggling with colic or was just fighting sleep. 

“And we need to fly or we’ll miss our appointment.” James said checking the time. 

Morgan was due for her one month check up and her an inoculation jab, the second HepB jab she’d had shortly after birth. Tony was also due for his post-partum check-up to make sure he was recovering well from the birth and did not have any complications.

“Of we go then precious.” Tony said settling Morgan into his arms and letting James carry out the bag and travel cot. 

Morgan did not like the car seat. Neither Tony or James knew why but Morgan hated the car seat with a passion and grizzled continually as she was strapped in and wouldn’t stop until they were at the doctors surgery and she was out of the car seat. 

“I hope she grows out of this soon.” Tony said rubbing her back to soothe her, “I’m not sure my sanity can stand having her screaming every time we go for a drive.”

“Nor my hearing.” James agreed holding the door for Tony and following him inside the building. 

It was Baby Clinic at the surgery so there were various parents present with children and toddlers come in for check ups and inoculations. As this was one of the first times Tony and Morgan had been seen in public for the past month they both immediately attracted attention with everyone wanting to get a glimpse of Morgan and a sight of the post-pregnant Omega. 

For the most part the parents kept a respectful distance, craning their heads to see Morgan and giving Tony smiles but not making demands of him or James. The Omega sat next to Tony who was bouncing a toddler on her knee did speak, congratulating him and James, saying how beautiful Morgan was. 

There were a few exceptions of course and James growled at those who had their phones out to snap photos, thankfully they all had the sense not to risk riling up the Alpha by approaching his mate and pup. 

The Nurse called them through to the treatment room after ten minutes and the Doctor greeted them warmly. 

“Let’s get Morgan weighed and measured then.” He said, “If you can pop her on the scales. How has she been doing?” 

“Great, she’s a good feeder.” Tony said, settling Morgan onto the baby scales, Morgan whimpered not liking the cold surface or being away from her parents. “She’s pretty easily settled too, we’ve only had a couple of bad nights with her and that’s been colic.”

“That’s lucky.” The nurse commented, “Mine all kept me awake solidly for three months, at the end of it I’d forgotten what sleep was!”

“Sound’s like my Granddaughter.” The Doctor chuckled, “She kept her parents awake for months.” 

The fact he spoke in the past tense hinted at them having been lost in the snap, Tony and James both chose not to pry on what was likely a very difficult subject for the man and instead focused on Morgan. 

“She’s gained six and a half ounces.” The Doctor said recording it in the notes, “Are you nursing?” He asked Tony.

“Yep, twenty minutes or so on each breast.” 

“And any discomfort?”

“Umm I’m sore, I mean my nipples are sore, but my breasts don’t ache like they did do, the first week I wanted to rip them off they hurt so much.”

The Doctor nodded, “That’s perfectly normal, I’ll examine you once we’ve finished with her highness here. Let’s see how much she’s grown.”

Morgan had managed to gain almost an inch in height and the Doctor said she’d likely be going into a growth spurt soon at which point she’d likely be demanding more milk, he advised Tony to continue to nurse but to top it up with formula if necessary. 

Morgan was stripped down to her nappy and thoroughly checked over with the Doctor listening to her heart, which Morgan took exception to and shoved at the stethoscope with a displeased grunt! 

“Hey, little wriggler, hold still.” James chuckled, taking her hands so the Doctor could listen to her heart. 

“That’s absolutely fine, no problems there. Her bowels and bladder are regular and she’s not showing any discomfort or excessive vomiting after feeding?”

“I think we could use her nappies as a weapon of mass destruction!” Tony said, “But otherwise she’s fine, and certainly has good aim with her vomit, we’ll be re-painting the bedroom wall!”

“Oh just wait until she starts writing on it or ripping the wallpaper off and trying to eat it.” The nurse warned with a chuckle. 

“Alright, everything is fine here, let’s get her jab done and then we’ll do the post-partum examination.” The Doctor said. 

Morgan very much disliked the jab, screaming as soon as the needle went into her and continued to cry loudly after it was all over. 

“I’ll take her out and try and settle her.” James said to Tony, “Unless you need me?” 

Tony shook his head, “Nurse Dempsey can chaperone.” The Doctor said. 

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Tony said kissing James and Morgan goodbye while kicking off his shoes and then headed behind the screen to strip down into a paper gown. 

He was pleasantly surprised by how much weight he’d lost since giving birth especially since he hadn’t been trying. He’d lost twenty pounds within the first week of giving birth, the majority of that being Morgan herself, placenta, extra blood, and water. Another seven had come off since then most likely from breast feeding. 

“You are only ten pounds from your original weight.” The Doctor said, “Are you doing anything besides breast feeding?” 

“No.” Tony said as he settled onto the examination table to have his blood pressure taken and his pelvis examined. “Except for post-partum exercises, you know pelvic floor muscle exercises and such.” The Doctor nodded. 

“Well whatever you are doing keep it up.” 

He examined Tony’s pelvis and where his stitches had been, everything was healed nicely without complication. He palpitated Tony’s abdomen to feel for his uterus making sure it was back down in the abdominal cavity where it belonged and made sure Tony wasn’t developing a hernia or anything. 

He was gentle in examining Tony’s breasts making sure he hadn’t any signs of mastitis, and finally took blood to check Tony’s iron levels among other things. 

“So how have you been feeling in yourself.” He asked the Omega once Tony was dressed again. 

“Good.” Tony said, “I was pretty crappy for the first two weeks or so. I couldn’t stop crying and I was so tired it actually hurt to just be awake. But since about ten days or so ago I’ve not felt so awful, I’m still tried, but not so exhausted or feeling like I can’t get anything right if you know what I mean.”

The Doctor nodded making a couple of notes, “Is James helping you?”

Tony smiled, “He’s been brilliant, he instigated Tony time, where for an hour everyday I take time for myself to just have a long bath, or do yoga, or just take a nap.”

“Excellent, a supportive Alpha is what a new Omega Mother needs, especially in the earliest months.” The Doctor said, “Other than the first two weeks of baby blues you’ve been feeling alright, not depressed or excessively over-whelmed. I know a new baby is over-whelming to all parents, especially first time parents, but you’ve not been feeling as thought you absolutely cannot cope?”

“No.” Tony said shaking his head, “I don’t think I’d have managed without James, but since I have him it’s not been an issue.”

“Good, I don’t think we need to worry about PND then, but if you do start to feel this way please don’t wait, get in touch. Post-Natal-Depression is nothing to be ashamed of and the sooner it is treated the better.” Tony nodded but doubted he’d need to, he didn’t feel depressed, tired yes, but that was to be expected with a Month old baby. 

“We need to discuss your contraception.” The Doctor said and Tony nearly choked on his tongue, “Your next heat will be at three months after the birth and it will be an intense heat. While it is entirely your choice I would recommend that you do not become pregnant again for a year. The body needs that time to recover fully from a pregnancy and birth.” 

Tony knew he should have expected to be told this, but his brain had decided to go into screen saver mode, stupid baby brain, and forget that he would need to consider contraception once again. But then should he? He wasn’t sure he wanted Morgan to be an only child and he wasn’t exactly young, if he and James were going to give her a sibling or two then they needed to get on with it. 

But, he also knew the Doctor was right in saying he needed to give his body a rest, if he didn’t then he was likely to suffer complications, miscarriage, premature birth and other issues. 

“If I were to consider getting pregnant again, what’s the earliest that would be okay?” He asked the Doctor. 

The older Beta paused and thought about it, “At least six months.” He said, “But really it would be better to wait a full year.” He sighed and sat back in his chair, “I assume you want to get pregnant again?” Tony nodded, “Well then, I would recommend against hormonal contraceptives and stick with condoms. That way you won’t have to wait for the false hormones to leave your body.”

“Okay.” Tony agreed with a nod. 

He and the Doctor exchanged farewells and Tony made another appointment for the following month for Morgan, heading out to the car where James had the radio playing mellow classics which seemed to be soothing Morgan. 

“Everything okay?” James asked as Tony got in the car. 

“Yeah I’m down another seven pounds which is great, I might see if I can squeeze into any of my old clothes when we get home. Also I should be going into a pretty intense heat in two months time and we need condoms for it, and we can’t have another baby for a year.”

James balked, “Another baby, we’re considering another baby?” Even as he said this James began tp picture it in his mind, Tony heavy again with their son or daughter, Morgan in his arms resting above the growing bump. Damn, that should not have been as arousing as it was. 

“I was an only child and it got lonely at times.” Tony said looking over his shoulder to Morgan, “I’d like for her to have a brother or sister, maybe one of each?”

“Twins!” James joked wiggling his eyebrows.

“Hell no, one at a time or not at all.” Tony said shooting a glare at James’ crotch, “Or you’ll be learning to sing soprano.”

*****

After they were finished with the Doctors they took Morgan to the penthouse where they met Pepper, Rhodey and Natasha for lunch. 

It was the first time the three of them had seen Morgan since the birth and none of them could get enough of her. 

“Oh she’s so perfect Tony.” Pepper gushed as she carefully took Morgan into her arms, “Aren’t you poppet? You are going to be a beauty when you grow up, you’re going to have all the girls and boys fighting over you.” 

“Hey don’t hog her, let Uncle Rhodey have a cuddle with his favourite niece.”

“I think you mean your only niece, Rhodeybear.” Tony said trying not to white knuckle his hands with worry as Pepper passed Morgan to Rhodey. He knew they wouldn’t hurt her but he couldn’t help but to feel concerned. She was so small and fragile still it worried him seeing anyone but James holding her. 

“Oh yeah, you’re going to be a real heartbreaker.” Rhodey said to Morgan as she blinked at him with sleepy eyes, “And I’ll bet you’re going to be keeping your Mother and Father on their toes.”

“She will if she takes after Stark.” Natasha said, she was sat on the edge of the sofa looking longingly at Morgan but had yet to ask to hold her, not certain that she was welcome to do so. Pepper and Rhodey were practically blood kin to Tony where their relationship had been difficult at best. 

“She’ll be a handful I’m sure.” Pepper chuckled. “And how are you two doing?” She asked looking to the new parents, “You both look good, better than I imagined you be after a month of sleepless nights.”

“We’ve not been doing too bad with sleep.” James said, “We’ve had a couple of bad nights but on the whole she settles easily.” 

“And you are looking good Tony.” Natasha said admiringly, “I’ll bet you’re feeling more comfortable now than you were in those last few weeks.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Tony said with a roll of his eyes, “Those last six weeks were torture.”

The final six weeks of pregnancy had been six weeks of misery for him, with his back and ankles throbbing, an inability to get comfortable no matter what he did, feeling nauseous, bloated, suffering heartburn, and constantly needing to pee had made for a very unpleasant time, not to mention the weeks of bedrest due to his blood pressure. 

“Uh, um, I think she needs to go back to one of you now.” Rhodey suddenly said, holding Morgan out with a disgusted look on his face, the reason for this became clear as an unpleasant smell filled the air. 

“Wuss.” Tony said, He took Morgan and headed for the bathroom with the baby bag to get her changed. 

Once he was gone the others drew closer and spoke quietly, “So you’ve no idea where Rogers has gone?” James asked. 

“No, he just took off.” Natasha said. “I know I should have kept a better eye on him, but he was being such a dick that frankly I was just happy to see him gone.”

“Understandable.” Pepper murmured, “But do you think he’ll approach you, Tony, or Morgan?” She asked James. The Alpha snorted. 

“Steve Rogers is like a dog with a bone, he never lets things go. This restraining order won’t deter him I’m sure of that.” 

“Then you need to keep a watch out.” Rhodey said, “I’ll try and stay within New York for as long as I can, that way if you need back up I’ll be able to reach you quickly.”

“Thanks but I can handle Rogers.” James said confidently. “But, I don’t want him upsetting Tony again, so yeah, I would appreciate help if it comes to that, and I think we all know it probably will.”

“Should we tell Tony?” Pepper asked glancing to the bathroom door.

“It will only worry him.” Natasha said, “Between Friday, James, and Rhodes’ vigilance Rogers won’t get near him or Morgan. So there’s no need to upset him when he’s so happy.”

The four settled back and changed the subject to what they wanted to order for lunch when Tony came back into the living room with a freshly changed Morgan, sitting down beside Natasha and letting her get her fill of looking at Morgan and agreed with Pepper on ordering Thai for Lunch. 

Rhodey and James exchanged determined looks, no matter what Steve wasn’t going to be allowed to upset Tony again not if they had any say in the matter.


	31. Chapter 31

Steve was thankful that the weather was mild and dry, sleeping in the rain wouldn’t have been pleasant in the least. While he had slept rough before he had to admit it was not so easy on his own, without a companion to keep him company, to share body heat, to simply have someone to talk to. 

He was lonely, having not spoken to anyone since leaving the compound. Sketching during daylight could only occupy his thoughts so much and the lack of contact with another person was getting to him, especially when he saw Tony and Bucky in the garden of their home, putting out washing, fiddling with the fence, petting the damn Alpaca, and playing with Morgan on the lawn. 

The last was the most painful to watch. Seeing the pup laid down on the grass on her front or her back with Tony and Bucky praising her as her tiny hands gripped the strands beneath her, her face looking puzzled at the strange new texture on her baby skin. 

Steve had to admit he was surprised by how hands on Tony was with her, taking for a nappy change, taking her straight to his breast when she was hungry. If he didn’t know better he would think that Tony knew he was there and was putting on a show for him, but if Tony had known he was there then he’d have raised bloody hell already. 

Steve had to bide his time, he knew that, he couldn’t just barge in, not with Friday keeping a watchful eye, he had to wait until he had a clear opportunity. 

That opportunity came a month after he had first left the compound, by which time his store of food had begun to run low. 

He saw Bucky come out of the house Tony with him, Morgan in his arms. 

“So if you call and you can’t get through don’t worry about it, I’ve got to disconnect everything so I can go through all of the systems and find the glitch.” Tony said, bouncing Morgan as he walked with Bucky to the car. 

“Okay, I shouldn’t need to call, I’ve got a list and everything.” Bucky said holding a sheet of paper in his metal hand, “And this time I won’t forget milk this time.” He grinned and leaned down to kiss Morgan, “No I won’t, Daddy will remember milk.”

“Hmm, do you believe him Morgoona, or do you think Daddy has a head like a sieve?” Tony teased. 

“And Mamma has a sharp tongue, doesn’t he?” Bucky chuckled, “And a perfect arse.” He delivered a slap to Tony’s backside which earned him a slap on the shoulder. 

“Not in front of her, she shouldn’t be given such wicked thoughts.”

Bucky laughed and kissed Tony making his goodbyes before he got into the car and pulled away with Tony waving him off. 

“Right then, let’s get you settled in for a nap so Mamma can get all the work done.” Tony said to Morgan taking her back into the house. 

Steve stayed low, hidden in the bushes watching and waiting, he’d overheard the whole conversation and knew that this was his time to act. Once Friday was disconnected he could get into the house and see Morgan, wait for Bucky to come home and they could talk all of this out, get everything sorted. 

He waited for half an hour until Tony returned outside, going to the garage and began to work, Steve inched closer to the house, still keeping himself hidden but listening out. 

“Okay Friday, get your most recent update loaded into the backup servers and prepare for shut down.” Tony said to the AI. 

“Update loaded, I am prepared for power down.” The AI replied. 

“Okay, shut down in five, four, three, two, one.” 

There was a humming noise as if something was falling from the sky at great speed, then everything went silent save for Tony humming under his breath and his fingers tapping away at a laptop he had on a work bench. 

Silently Steve rose from his hiding place and made his way into the garage, Tony’s back was to him, the billionaire was too occupied with whatever he was doing to notice Steve. The alpha paused in the doorway of the garage considering what to do. Part of him wanted to knock Tony out or even wring his neck, but he didn’t want to give Tony any excuses to bring the law onto him with cries of assault. 

What he needed was to have Tony kept out of the way while he spoke to Bucky. 

Steve eyed the garage, from what he could see it didn’t have a door that went into the house and the garage door was electrical, controlled by Friday like the rest of Tony’s tech, all of which was shut down right now. 

The door would be too heavy for Tony to lift to open on his own, it was reinforced steel, made to withstand canon fire from an armoured tank. Most likely because of the Iron Man armour that was sat in display cases. If Tony put those on he could lift the door so just shutting him in the garage wouldn’t work. 

Steve let out a sigh which was apparently louder than it should have been as Tony spun around, his eyes widening in shock. 

“Tony calm down.” Steve said seeing the shock on Tony’s face. 

“Friday code red!” Tony shouted apparently forgetting he’d shut his AI down. Cursing a second later he grabbed a spanner, “Don’t you come near me.” He warned Steve. 

The Alpha scoffed, “What are you going to do, hit me with that?” 

“If you come near me or Morgan….” Tony trailed off, his eyes widening in fear, “Morgan.” He started for the garage entrance, deliberately going the long way around to avoid Steve, but the Alpha doubled back on himself intercepting Tony. 

Tony lashed out with the spanner aiming for Steve’s head, Steve raised his arm and took the blow on his forearm delivering a solid punch to Tony’s face which had enough force to throw the Omega backwards into one of the workstations, the back of his head hit the countertop and he fell face first to the ground with blood soaking into his hair. 

“Damnit Stark, why do you always make things difficult?” Steve sighed going to pick the Omega up and carried him into the house. 

He carried Tony upstairs to the bedroom and lay him down on the bed, going to the bathroom to find a first aid kit and used the antiseptic wipes to clean the cut on the back of Tony’s head, he then placed a dressing over the wound and wound bandages around Tony’s head to hold it in place. 

Tony groaned and frowned, consciousness starting to return to him, which unknotted a painfully tight ball in Steve’s stomach that he hadn’t realized he’d had until it was gone. 

“Morgan?” Tony slurred, his eyelids fluttering, 

“Hey, slowly.” Steve said, “Stay still, you hit your head, you’ve got a concussion.” 

“Hmm, m’okay, James.” Tony whispered groggily, his eyes unfocused and half-lidded, “Always okay, you n’Morgan, all I need.”

Steve paused and stared down at Tony truly surprised by his words, as slurred and groggily spoken as they were. What was it they said? That a man always spoke the truth when he was unaware of what he was saying. 

Tony was too out of it right now to know what he was saying, but he was professing love for Bucky and Morgan. 

Steve’s breath caught in his throat as he cleared it to speak, “You love them?” He whispered hardly believing it. 

“Wha…?” Tony mumbled his eyelids fluttering. “Go sleep Jamie.” He murmured, “S’too early, M’gan sheelps us sheelps.” 

A small smile quirked Steve’s lips involuntarily, “You’re happy here, being married, being a Mother?” 

Tony’s nose wrinkled and his brow furrowed making him look like a kitten who’d caught a new scent. “Course I do.” He said, his face relaxing and a smile pulling at his lips, but it was a sad smile not a happy smile, “Wish P’ter cou’ be here. Miss ‘im. Miss Spidey.”

Peter, Spiderman. 

Steve felt his heart pang at the remembrance of the boy that Tony had lost. Everyone knew that Tony had taken Spiderman under his wing, that he had become a mentor for the young hero, whose identity was unknown by the public. Losing him must have deeply hurt the Omega, especially since Tony was professing his loss now while he was unable to control his tongue. 

Getting to his feet Steve took in the bedroom, like the rest of the house it seemed to have been practically given over to Morgan and her care, with nappies stacked up in a corner, along with talcum powder and wet wipes. A changing mat, the crib, and the carry cot were all beside the bed. In the bathroom a baby bath and baby shampoo and baby soap were besides the cologne, deodorant, shaving foam, and body washes. Downstairs there was a pile of onesies freshly washed and Steve could guess if he went and looked in the nursery he would find many more. 

Clearly Tony was putting in some effort in caring for his daughter, could Steve have been mistaken in thinking he was shirking his responsibilities and was forcing Bucky to do everything? 

Steve looked at the Billionaire who’d fallen quiet again on the bed, part of him wanted to trust Tony, to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then he remembered the accords, Ultron, and the restraining Order and his heart hardened. He couldn’t trust Tony, not when it came to Bucky’s wellbeing. 

Turning his back on Tony, Steve went over to the crib and beamed down at the baby. 

“Hello little one, I’m your Uncle Steve.” He cooed at her, “I’ve been waiting a long time to hold you.” Reaching into the crib he lifted her up into his arms and settled her against his chest. 

Morgan, unhappy about being disturbed from her sleep, screwed her face and whimpered, her little eyes opening and stared up at an unfamiliar face. She let out a whine and then began cry, quietly at first but the sobs became progressively louder. 

“Hey, shush, it’s okay, it’s fine, Uncle Steve is here.” Steve said bouncing her slightly as he’d seen people do to babies when they cried, “There’s no need to cry Morgan, you’re perfectly safe now.” 

Morgan’s cries drowned out Tony sluggishly calling her name and struggling to get up and go to her, his limbs were uncoordinated and he stumbled, falling to the floor as his mind fell into unconsciousness again. 

*****

Steve carried Morgan downstairs trying to soothe her as she continued to cry, she was a good weight in his arms, clearly she had been feeding well and she looked healthy and robust, certainly her lungs were strong with the amount she was crying. 

“Hush little love, everything is fine.” He said, taking her into the kitchen and got the kettle going to make a drink, Morgan wriggled in his single armed hold and Steve had to grab hold of her quickly or he’d have dropped her. 

“Phew, that was close eh?” He said to her, feeling a momentary relief that she had stopped crying, but the silence only lasted a moment as she began to cry even louder, her cheeks turning red and tears rolling down them. 

“Come on Morgan, what is wrong with you?” Steve asked starting to feel desperate, he didn’t have experience with children, he didn’t know what to do when they cried, in his day Alpha’s didn’t care for Pups, Omegas and Beta women did that. 

“Do you need changing?” He asked her as if she could answer, he lifted her up and sniffed at her, she didn’t smell of urine or excrement so he figured she was dry and clean, “Are you hungry?” he hoped not, if she was on the breast then there wasn’t much he could do about it. 

Sighing Steve rocked Morgan and tried to ignore the ringing in his ears from her cries, hoping that Bucky would be hope soon so he could figure out what she wanted and why she wouldn’t settle. Had Tony been doing something to her? Over indulging her, or maybe Bucky had because he was having to be both Mother and Father to her when Tony decided Morgan was too hard work to deal with. Yes Steve had seen some sign that he cared but he knew that Tony lost interest in things quickly and he doubted that his care lasted for very long. 

In his arms Morgan coughed and spluttered, alarming Steve that she might be choking, quickly he lifted her up and held her aloft tapping her on the back, Morgan coughed and then spat partially digested milk directly into his face. 

Coughing a couple more times Morgan squirmed and began to cry again, this time sounding tired and miserable rather than just grumpy. 

“God sakes.” Steve muttered disgustedly, he placed Morgan down on the kitchen counter and went to the sink to wash his face clean. A thump sounded from behind and Steve turned in alarm fearing that Morgan had fallen, but saw that it was only the Alpaca who had come into the kitchen and was standing on it’s hind legs to sniff at the crying baby. 

“Out, go on.” Steve snapped shooing at the Alpaca, “Get out of here.”   
The Alpaca huffed at him and then let out an ear splitting shriek, wincing Steve shooed the creature, which continued to shriek at him and even tried to bite him as he hurried it out of the kitchen and back outside. 

Morgan was still crying when he came back in and she stiffened and squirmed as he picked her up. 

“Come on, quieten down.” Steve said, his patience wearing thin, “You can’t keep on screaming forever.” 

Sighing in exasperation as Morgan cried louder as if deliberately trying to disprove him, Steve looked out of the window hoping to see Bucky drive up soon.

****

With an aching head and a nauseous stomach Tony came to on the floor of his bedroom, her could hear Morgan crying from downstairs and struggled to get to his feet, he had to support himself on the bed as his head spun and he had to pause for several moments to regain his equilibrium before he could set off again. 

He stumbled on the stairs, having to grip tightly to the bannister as he got himself downstairs and continued to use the walls for support as he made his way to the kitchen where, to his horror he saw Steve Rogers holding Morgan in his arms.


	32. Chapter 32

Terror filled Tony as he watched Steve manhandling Morgan with little to no skill. The super soldier had clearly never held an infant before, he held like a sack of potatoes, jerked her about in a pitiful attempt to comfort her. 

“Come on child quieten down!” He snapped at her, as if it were her fault that she was distressed. “You are not hungry, not wet, not dirty, why do you cry?” He demanded of her in exasperation. 

“She’s scared!” 

Tony blurted out the words without even thinking and he stumbled forward into the kitchen, having to support himself on the back of one of the chairs to keep from losing his balance. 

“Tony.” Steve said, turning to look at the Omega. He looked him over, taking in the pallid skin and disoriented look in Tony’s eyes, “You should go and lay down, you are not well.”

Biting his lip Tony ignored the idiotic words and forced himself to move away from the kitchen table and closer to Steve and Morgan. 

“Give her to me.” He said making every effort to keep his voice calm. He reached out his hands which were shaking, either from fear or from his concussion. 

“I’ve got her.” Steve said turning away and holding Morgan closer to his chest, muffling her cries by pressing her against his shoulder. 

“You’re suffocating her!” Tony cried lurching forward, he nearly fell to the ground as he reached out for Morgan, her cries hurting him as if they were knives to his chest. 

“She’s fine.” Steve said cupping the back of Morgan’s head, he did pull her away from his chest a little though and at once Morgan’s cries increased in volume. “You are over-reacting just like always Stark.” Steve said condescendingly to Tony, “Making a song and dance about everything. Your dramatics may have convinced a judge to grant you a restraining order, but they will not work on me, nor on Bucky when I speak with him.”

Tony couldn’t hold in the scoff of incredulity, how Steve could believe the rubbish he was spouting Tony hadn’t the faintest idea. 

“You know, you almost convinced me.” Steve said looking to Tony, bouncing Morgan to roughly as he tried to soothe her crying. Her voice was starting to strain now, she was becoming hoarse after spending so long crying. 

“Steve please.” Tony said his voice wobbling, “My baby.”

“You said things while you were coming round from hitting your head.” Steve said, ignoring Tony’s plea and the tears filling his eyes, “You claimed to love Bucky, Morgan, to want nothing more than them.”

“I do love them.” Tony cried out as tears ran down his cheeks, Morgan hiccupped and coughed her little body jerking, she was becoming sick from crying so much, “Steve just give me my baby!” He begged. 

Steve shook his head, “I almost believed you, believed what you were saying, but I know how selfish you are.” He said, “Your love is only ever for the greater glory of yourself. You love Bucky because you can hurt me by taking him away, by alienating him from me, ME! His Brother in all but blood!”

As he turned to face Tony fully Steve was shouting, his body shaking with anger which also shook Morgan making her cry louder and cough all the more. 

“Morgan!” Tony lunged forward snatching at Morgan’s body which he wrapped his right arm about, pulling her from Steve’s grip while his left hand scratched at Steve’s face coming very close to hitting his right eye. 

As Steve stumbled back Tony fell to his knees and let his right elbow hit the floor hard, taking the blow so Morgan wouldn’t be harmed, gritting his teeth against the pain Tony got to his feet and ran clutching Morgan tight to his chest and fighting the dizziness he felt as he forced his body to move. 

It was pure adrenaline spurred on by his need to get his baby to safety that kept him on his feet and running with a speed that even had Steve struggling to keep up with him. 

“Tony!” Steve shouted running after the Omega, his face bearing four deep scratches from Tony’s nails. 

“Get away from us!” Tony bellowed back at Steve not daring to look over his shoulder, not daring to do anything but to keep on running. He didn’t think about where he was going only that he had to get away from Steve. Against his chest Morgan continued to cry but one of her little hands gripped at his shirt tight, her knuckles pressing against his chest just beneath his heart.   
“Don’t worry baby girl, I’m going to keep you safe.” Tony whispered to her forcing himself to keep on running. 

“Tony stop being so ridiculous!” Steve shouted, far too close for comfort and possessing far more stamina than Tony thanks to the super soldier serum and the difference in their ages. As they reached the turn in the road Tony’s footing slipped making him stumble and giving the Steve the chance to grab his shoulder and pull him back. 

“No!” Tony cried falling to his knees, keeping Morgan clutched tight against his chest. 

“You are being absurd!” Steve shouted at him, trying to take hold of Morgan even as Tony pulled away from him all but curling up into a foetal position with Morgan clutched against his chest.   
“You will hurt the baby!” Steve accused. 

“Get away from us.” Tony screamed just as the sound of a car horn reached his ears followed by a shriek of brakes as a car pulled up besides them. 

“Get away from them!” 

*****

James was feeling in good spirits, he had gotten everything on the shopping list plus a few extras, he’d also managed to get the shopping done in far shorter time than he’d expected and was looking forward to being back home with Tony and Morgan. 

Maybe he could spend the rest of the day working on the fence and have Morgan with him while Tony did…….whatever it was he was doing to the electrics which James had no idea of understanding. 

He was humming along to the song playing on the radio when a sight ahead of him had his blood boiling in his veins. He slammed his fist on the car horn and hit the brakes, leaping out of the car with a roar at Steve Rogers to get away from his husband and baby. 

Steve immediately let go of Tony and got to his feet, “Bucky I can explain, I just needed to talk to you but once again Tony…” That was as far as he got, James was on him then fists pounding into Steve’s face, easily deflecting any blows Steve tried to give him and drove his knee hard into Steve’s stomach making him bend double. 

“I warned you to keep away from my family!” James roared raising his fists above his head, he brought both down upon Steve’s back with enough force to crack his vertebrae, sending the Super soldier to the ground where kicked at his kidneys, his ribs, and his sides. 

Coughing blood Steve struggled and managed to get his arms about James’ leg, pulling hard and brought him down onto the ground, but a spasm of pain prevented him from doing more and then James’ metal fist smashing into his face breaking his jaw. 

“I told you I would kill you if you went near my family again.” James snarled, “If you so much as looked at them.”

“Bucky please!” Steve begged the words distorted from his broken jaw. 

“Shut up!” James bellowed at him striking him again, and rose to his feet placing his boot just under Steve’s chin, “I should have killed you last time, just time I will!” He lifted his boot but before he could deliver the blow that would crush Steve’s wind pipe a repulsor blast hit the ground at the side of the two Alphas throwing James back from Steve, who was flipped over onto his front by the blast. 

Rhodey landed on the grass, the faceplate of the War Machine armour sliding up to reveal his face. 

“Sorry to interfere Sergeant, but this asshole isn’t worth you killing him.” 

With savage snarl James leaped to his feet and charge at Rhodey, blood lust was in his eyes and his teeth were bared in feral rage. Bracing himself Rhodey met him and remained standing despite the impact, gripping hard to James’ upper arms and holding him firm. 

“Stand down Sergeant that is an order.” He barked at James. 

The enraged Alpha snarled and braced his hands on Rhodey’s suit covered arms, using them for leverage he lifted himself up and kicked Rhodey in the side. 

Had he not been wearing the suit Rhodey would have suffered multiple broken ribs, but the suit absorbed the impact and Rhodey merely stumbled and refused to let go of the raging Alpha. 

“You have to calm down!” He shouted at him. 

James snarled wordlessly, spittle flying from his bared teeth and eyes shone with an Alpha’s rage. 

“Please don’t make me have to knock you out.” Rhodey begged really not wanting to have to hurt James, all he was doing was following his instincts to protect Tony, but Rhodey didn’t want to have him risk all the progress he had made in recovering from his time in Hydra’s hands by killing again. 

They struggled a little longer and Rhodey grimaced, “Okay, Face plate down,” He ordered bracing himself, “Sorry big guy but you ain’t given me no choice.”

“James stop!”

As if by magic Tony’s voice cut through the blind fury that James was feeling. He stopped struggling against Rhodey, taking a step back from the other man, panting as he regained his breath. 

Tony, still clutching Morgan got out of the car unsteadily. As soon as the fight between James and Steve had began he’d dove into the car looking for James’ phone while the Alpha always put on the dash board, not liking the feel of it against his thigh when he was driving. Swiftly he’d gone through the contacts to Rhodey and called for help. 

Rhodey had not disappointed him, arriving only minutes later and stopping James from killing Steve. 

Still breathing heavily James staggered towards Tony as the fight went out of him. “My love.”

“It’s okay, we’re okay.” Tony assured him, making his way to James’ side just as the Alpha’s knees gave out. His body had been flooded with massive amounts of adrenaline that had given him increased strength and spend, it was a biological mechanism designed for Alphas to protect their mate and offspring against any predator. Now the fight was over though, all of that energy was leached away leaving James dizzy and exhausted. 

“You’re okay?” The Alpha asked as Tony got down on his knees beside him, Morgan was still whimpering but no longer crying and she quieted as James’ human hand cupped her head.

“We’re okay.” Tony repeated pressing a kiss to James’ forehead. In the distance he could hear police sirens, no doubt Rhodey had called for the police while he was on his way. 

“Bucky!” Steve moaned, from his mangled position on the ground. 

“Shut it Rogers.” Rhodey growled at him, he was keeping an eye but Steve was going no where, with one or more of his vertebrae cracked he was immobile until it healed, or, as in Rhodey’s case, never did, but Steve had the serum so he would likely regain use of his legs. Right now though, they were useless. He was also spitting blood and struggling to breathe indicating internal bleeding. 

“Bucky please.” He rasped. 

“It’s over Rogers.” Rhodey said to him, “You’re finished this time.”

“He’s right.” Tony whispered pressing his aching head against James’ “It is over, and now we can go home.”


	33. Chapter 33

Due to his injuries the Police had to take Steve to hospital to be treated before he could be formally charged. 

He was found to have two cracked vertebrae, ten broken ribs, town of which had punctured his lung, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured kidney, and a broken jaw. 

Already the serum was getting to work on healing the broken bones, but they all needed to be set into correct alignment for healing, he also had to undergo surgery to remove his spleen, repair his kidney, and drain and reinflate his lung. 

When he came round from the anaesthetic he was lying on a hospital bed with his left wrist cuffed to the bed rails, his jaw had been wired shut so the bones could heal, a nasal gastric tube had been fitted so he could be fed liquid nutrients, he was also in a spinal support that was holding him rigid along with a thick neck brace. 

He tried to open his mouth to speak but the wire held his teeth in place and pain shot through his jaw making him moan. 

The officer who had been standing by the door glanced inside and gave Steve a disgusted look before turning away and calling out to a nurse. 

Steve moaned again and tried to move, his chest ached as did his abdomen, as he braced his hands on the bed and tried to scoot up, however he couldn’t move himself, his lower body was limp as ragdoll. Fear shot through Steve as he remembered his spine being hit, his lower body going numb except for pins and needles in his feet. Dear God had he been paralysed? 

Hot tears burned at Steve’s eyes as he imagined himself confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, broken and useless to everyone. 

Oh that would suit Tony wouldn’t it, bringing Captain America low, ruining him completely.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the Doctor coming in to see him and check him over. 

“Now while I’m sure its unpleasant you mustn’t try to talk. Your mouth had been wired shut so your jaw can heal. The good news is that your enhanced healing your jaw should be healed in a week or so.”

Okay at least he’d be able to speak soon, that was something positive. 

“We had to remove your spleen, but we were able to repair your kidney and your lung.” The doctor went on, “You did suffer two fractured vertebrae, which as I am sure you are aware is a very serious injury. Thankfully the serum already appears to be repairing the damage, at this rate you should be healed in a few weeks.”

Relief flooded Steve, it wasn’t permanent damage, it would heal. He could still be Captain America. 

However until then he’d be confined to this bed, that was not a prospect he was looking forward to.

He looked down at his left arm and jerked the cuff, “Ah, that I’ll let the officer explain.” The Doctor said. “As it is you are healing well and are very fortunate, your injuries could have been a lot worse.”

“When can he be moved?” The officer asked.

“Not until his spine has healed.” The Doctor said, “However you can dispense with the cuff, in his current condition he isn’t going anywhere.”

“Better safe than sorry.” The officer replied. 

When the Doctor left the officer came into the room and stood by the bed. “You are going to be charged with braking your restraining order, breaking and entering private property, assault and battery, attempted kidnap, and child endangerment.”

“Ogt?” Steve garbled unable to speak properly.

“My superiors will be along to formally charge you. You’ll also be given a legal aid lawyer if you can’t afford a private one, and as soon as you are healed we’ll be taking you to a supermax to hold you until your trial.”

No, no, no, no, no. This was all wrong, this couldn’t be happening. Steve hadn’t hurt anyone, he certainly hadn’t kidnapped anyone or harmed a child. This was all a misunderstanding, more of Tony’s lies. 

He wanted so to speak out, to say this but his jaw prevented him from doing anything but moaning. 

“You’re lucky you know.” The officer said, “I’ve seen Alpha’s rip people limb from limb in a full rage and you certainly put Barnes into a rage, fuck, his eyes were still bloody when I saw him.”

In a full Alpha rage, the sclera of the eye became crimson as blood vessels burst due to the surge of adrenaline in their system, it along with the bulging veins and the feral behaviour was the signs of an Alpha in full rage. 

As these rages only occurred when an Alpha was protecting their mate and/or offspring, they were very rarely charged with any crime committed during the rage, anyone who saw an Alpha in this state knew to keep clear of them, and those close to them were the ones posing the threat. If what the officer was saying was true then Steve was lucky to be alive, few people survived a raging Alpha’s attack on them. 

It made him sick, thinking that Tony had such a hold on Bucky, that he could make Bucky think Steve was a threat. His poor friend, hadn’t he already suffered enough without Tony manipulating him like this? 

The worst part was Steve couldn’t do anything while he was like this, he wouldn’t be able to do a thing until he’d healed. Until then Tony had won. But Steve was damned if he was going to let that victory be more than brief, he’d save Bucky from Tony’s brain washing if it was the last thing he did. 

****

Tony and Morgan were taken to a different hospital than Steve to be checked over. Tony was found to have a concussion and a fracture in his skull, he also had a fracture to his elbow from where he’d hit the ground so hard upon it. 

As he was still experiencing dizziness and nausea the Doctor admitted him for observation and ordered an MRI to check for intercranial bleeding and swelling. 

Morgan was examined by a paediatrician, she had bruised ribs from being gripped too tightly and she was a little dehydrated after going so long without feeding and crying so much. 

Like Tony she was admitted to the hospital but was put in the children’s ward for observation, she was also given an MRI to check that she hadn’t suffered shaken baby syndrome or anything severe. 

“It’s not likely, she isn’t displaying any symptoms.” The Paediatrician said to Tony, “She’s responsive, she’s conscious, she’s not had any convulsions or excessive vomiting, all of which are very good signs, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Okay.” Tony said looking longingly at his baby girl, he hated being separated from her, even if it was only a few floors apart. 

“She didn’t lose consciousness at all while you were with her, didn’t suffer any fits or anything?”

“No.” Tony said, “But I was unconscious for….I’m not sure how long to be honest, she could have done before I got to her.”

James growled low in his throat, if Morgan had been damaged by Steve then he would murder him. Bruising on her ribs was bad enough but shaken baby syndrome could have permanent consequences for Morgan.

“Alright, well, as I said the MRI is just a precaution, I don’t think she had suffered any serious injury.” 

Tony nodded and rolled his lips, “Can I hold her before she goes to the children’s unit?” 

“Of course.” The Paediatrician carefully placed Morgan in Tony’s arms, balancing her against the cast he was wearing and stood back, allowed the parents to say a temporary goodbye to their daughter. 

“You be good now Princess and you’ll be back with us very soon.” Tony said sniffing and pressing kisses to Morgan’s face. 

“You’re our little warrior baby girl.” James whispered kissing Morgan’s head, “Daddy is very proud of you and we’ll see you very soon.” 

With difficulty they let the Doctor take Morgan up to the children’s ward wiping tears from their eyes as they saw her go, looking terribly small and vulnerable in the Doctor’s arms.

“What if she’s not okay, what if she has brain damage?” Tony whispered, “She might lose her sight, she might suffer severe learning difficulties, be unable to walk and talk….”

“She won’t, she’s going to be fine.” James said making himself sound convincing, but really he was worried about the same thing himself. 

Tony grabbed James’ shirt and stared at him in worry, “What if I hurt her?” He said horrified at the thought, “I held her tight in my arms and I was running, what if I hurt her doing that?”

“No, you didn’t.” James said, “And she’s not hurt, she’s going to be fine, she’ll come through this and we’ll be taking her home tomorrow and dealing with her toxic nappies and spit up again.”

“If I hurt her I’ll never forgive myself.” Tony said biting his bottom lip and making James hate Steve even more for doing this to him and Tony. 

*****

Tony and Morgan passed the night well, both of their MRI scans were clear, Tony had to have four stitches in his scalp from where it had split and was banned from doing any sports, operating machinery, driving, or anything strenuous for ten days. Morgan had nothing more than some bruising on her ribs, which, while this would be painful until it healed, would not give her any long term damage. She had also kept the hospital staff very busy throughout the night, refusing to settle for them and just generally being grumpy as she wasn’t with her parents. 

Happily Tony and James took Morgan to the Penthouse where Rhodey was waiting for them having stayed over night after giving his statement to the police. 

“Rogers is being charged with assault, attempted kidnap and child endangerment.” He told them as they settled into the living room with hot drinks. Unfortunately they couldn’t go back to the lake house until the police had finished collecting evidence but Rhodey had been allowed inside to pack up some essentials for them all.

“Is he alright?” James asked, he could remember beating Steve badly and while he was furious he hoped he hadn’t caused any permanent damage to the other Alpha. 

“He will be.” Rhodey said. “You two still need to give your statements to the cops. The detective gave me a number for you to call and arrange a time to go in and give your statements.”

“Yeah we’ll get that done in a day or so.” James said, “Hopefully we can go home soon too.”

“The cops said it’d be a couple of days, a week at the most.” Rhodey told him, “Pepper is going to be up soon, she’s dealing with the PR team, there’s no way this won’t end up in the media and she wanted to have a statement ready and try to keep them off your backs as much as possible.”

Tony groaned already imagining the nightmare the press were going to be. Half of the world were still Captain America fans, that he’d been arrested and was going to be going to prison was not going to go down well with them, especially not when he was the cause. 

Tony could see the headlines now, Stark causes rift between Captain America and his Soul Brother Bucky Barnes. 

Another casualty from Stark’s destructive behaviour.

Stark’s seduction ruins Captain America/Winter Soldier bromance of seventy years.

“Hey,” James said getting Tony’s attention, “None of this is your fault, so stop thinking of ways to blame yourself for the fact that Steve’s a dick.”

“Tell that to the general population.” Tony muttered unconvinced. “I’m always the one they blame, Steve’s the darling, I’m the whipping boy.”

“Not this time.” James stated, “No one is going to be supporting Steve for this.”

“You’d be surprised.” Rhodey said and shrugged as James shot him a scowl, “When it comes to celebrity personalities, people are prepared to overlook all sorts of issues to stick by their “Hero” A logical person will look at the evidence rather than the speculation from gossip rags and make an informed decision, but some people are so blinded by their adoration that no matter what their hero does they will never turn away from them.”

“Idiots you mean!” James deadpanned as politically correct as always. 

“Who’s an idiot?” Pepper asked as the lift doors opened and she strode in, carrying her stilettos rather than wearing them, which showed she’d been on her feet for a considerable amount of time, probably having not slept since news reached her about Steve’s attack. 

“Die Hard Captain America fans.” Tony replied, getting up and greeting her with a kiss. Pepper clucked her tongue over his bruises and the cast on his arm looking sceptical when he said he was fine. She bent down to coo at Morgan, getting a gummy smile in return before Morgan went back to sucking on her fingers. 

“And she’s alright?” Pepper asked.

“She had bruising on her ribs.” James growled, “Thanks to Roger’s manhandling of her, but otherwise she is fine.”

“Ohh poor baby. I’ll bet that’s going to be sore for a while.” Pepper said rubbing Morgan’s tummy gently, unfortunately Morgan chose this moment to let out a loud fart and filled her nappy at the same time. “Now does that mean she likes me or not?” Pepper chuckled as James scooped her up and took her to get cleaned up. Pepper frowned at Tony, “Are you okay, really?” 

“Really?” Tony asked, “I’m just dreading the shit storm that’s going to come from this when the world learns of Steve’s arrest.”

“Well just let me handle that.” Pepper said, “That’s what we have a PR department for. And apart from some obsessive Fans, Steve isn’t going to be supported. There is a mountain of evidence against him and that’s not even including his driving James into an Alpha rage.”

“Yeah, that’s something I can do without ever seeing again.” Rhodey said, facing down a raging Alpha was not a joke, especially when said Alpha was enhanced with super strength. 

“I need to get Friday back up and running.” Tony said getting to his feet, “I can get some of the work done here…”

“It can wait until tomorrow.” Pepper said, getting to her feet as did Rhodey when Tony got up. “You need to rest.”

“She’s right Man, you’ve been through a hell of an ordeal, you need to take the time to recover before you start doing any lab work.” Rhodey agreed. 

“But Friday…”

“Can wait.” Pepper insisted, “At least until tomorrow.”

“Plus you’ve had a head injury.” Rhodey pointed out, “You might not be completely thinking clearly and if you get stuff wrong working too soon then you’ll have to redo it all or even risk damaging Friday.” He wasn’t entirely clear on what Tony was doing but he figured that the Billionaire would need to be pretty cognizant to work on an AI. 

His ploy worked as Tony backed down and nodded his head. 

“And that’s you all clean little miss.” James said, coming back through with a freshly changed Morgan, she was fidgeting and whimpering in his arms, her mouth puckering into an Oh shape which hinted that she was getting hungry. 

“Looks like it’s elevenses for you then.” Tony said taking her from James.

“And that’s our cue to depart.” Rhodey said, “We’ll let you guys get some rest and see you tomorrow.”

They made their goodbyes and gave the small family some privacy, insisting they call if they needed anything. 

With his arm in a cast and one hand not fully mobile, Tony needed James help to undo his buttons and expose his breast so Morgan could latch on. He winced as she did recalling that he hadn’t used any nipple cream in more than twelve hours. 

“Fancy something truly unhealthy and full of greasy goodness for lunch?” James asked knowing that Tony would be hungry after feeding Morgan. He was also feeling hungry having had to put up with hospital cafeteria food since breakfast the day before and he wasn’t in the mood to cook.

“What did you have in mind?” Tony asked.

“Pizza, extra pepperoni, extra cheese, garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, and stuff that will undoubtedly be terrible for our cholesterol?”

“Hmm, throw in a new York cheese cake or ben and jerrys ice cream and you’ve got a deal.” Tony agreed, screw healthy eating after yesterday he deserved some comfort food.

*****

As expected the media went wild over the news of Steve Rogers arrest and his assault of Tony and attempted kidnap of Morgan. 

SI PR team gave an official statement and asked for the press to leave Tony and James alone, but that didn’t stop some reporters from loitering outside the tower, or social media from blowing up with speculations, exclamations, arguments over who was to blame and what the outcome would be. 

To Tony’s surprise seventy percent were supporting him, eighteen percent were on the fence, leaving just a measly twelve percent on Steve’s side. 

The day after they’d been released from the hospital, Tony and James gave their statements to the police and had their prints and DNA taken for elimination, they were advised not to give any interviews about the case as it could jeopardise the outcome of the trial. 

They were able to return home after five days, they could have gone after three but Pepper insisted on having the lake house professionally cleaned for them first so there would be no trace of Steve when they got home. 

Alfie was very happy to see them when they came home, having missed his humans and the extras he got from the table to supplement the berries, leaves, and grass he ate. He followed them inside, his hooves clacking on the floor as he went with them to the bedroom and hummed contentedly as James fussed him while Tony placed Morgan in her crib. 

Pepper’s team of cleaners had done an excellent job, there was not a single trace of Steve’s scent left, everything had been steam cleaned, polished, and scrubbed until it was gleaming. Pepper had even had replacement food delivered since most of the produce had defrosted or gone off having been left in the car for so long. 

“At least she seems to have gotten over everything.” James said. Apart from being cranky in the hospital and having a couple of grizzling sessions while at the tower Morgan had come through all this pretty unfazed. 

“It’s because she’s so young.” Tony said, “She won’t even remember it thank God.” He could remember the number of times he’d been abducted as a Pup, how harrowing it had been for him until he’d become a mouthy teenager and just got pissed off at the kidnappers instead of scared of them. He never wanted Morgan to have to go through any of that, to ever get to a point where abduction was so common place in her life that she was complacent about it. 

“This will never happen again.” James said, “Steve is going to go to prison for this for a long time, and we are going to put all this shit behind us and just focus on our family and the life we’re building here, we are not going to let him ruin that for us.”

It took a few moments but then Tony was nodding in agreement, damn Steve Rogers and his bullshit. Tony, James, and Morgan were happy where they were, they were building a future together and no one, not even Captain America was going to spoil that for them.


	34. Chapter 34

Steve never thought he would miss his hospital bed, not until he found himself sitting in his cell in the Supermax prison he was transferred to as soon as he regained the ability to walk. 

For six long weeks he lay in the hospital bed waiting for his spine to heal. First it started with tingling in his toes which eventually spread to his whole feet. He was elated at first as it proved he was recovering. Then he became irritated with it as it was constant and gave him trouble sleeping at night with the irritating pins and needles in his feet. 

That went on for days and started to spread up his legs even becoming painful enough that he had to request pain relief. 

Thankfully his jaw healed within a week and he was able to get rid of the wires and nasal gastric tube. Fir the first few days he was on liquid and soft food only, but then he was able to start eating properly again. After days of just being fed via the tube even the crappy hospital food tasted good to him. It may even helped speed up his recovery a little as his legs began to cramp as well as tingle and involuntary spasms would happen that had his feet and legs jerking. 

Once he had reached this point the physiotherapy began. Steve was taken into a gym every day to start using his legs. 

They would get him up on bars and have him walking back and forth, taking one shaking unstable step after another while resting most of his weight on his hands and arms. 

It was frustrating and exhausting and Steve longed for someone to talk to about it, longed for Bucky, for his best friend, who he knew would have supported him so much if only he was there, and he would have been there if not for Tony. But then if it weren’t for Tony, Steve wouldn’t be suffering through all this anyway. 

Persistence paid off however, because after six long weeks he was able to walk unassisted. 

His joy didn’t last long though, as he was taken from the hospital to the supermax prison where he was to be detained until his trial. 

He had a cell on his own, something he was grateful for, since the other residence were not particularly friendly. Some he had met and personally stopped from wreaking havoc, like several members of the serpent society, and one of the Wrecking Crew. 

The guards only allowed the prisoners out of their cells for a few hours everyday and to avoid fights, would only allow them to be out of the cells in small numbers to make for easier containment if a fight did break out. 

If it did then not only would this small amount of freedom be curtailed, you would also have a power dampening collar placed around your neck. 

Remembering what those things had done to Wanda, Steve had wanted to avoid that at all costs, especially since he had only just regained his full strength and use of all his limbs, he was in no hurry to go back to being weak and sickly, which the loss of the serum would make him. 

He was given a job in prison laundry, something he immediately hated as it was so demeaning, but it did earn him a little money to spend on things in the prison shop where inmates could buy tobacco, magazines, sodas, candy, chips, deodorant, and body wash. It also earned him minutes on the phone he could use to call Natasha. 

He only did this once however as Natasha it seemed had turned her back on him completely. Cursing him out in Russian and English, demanding to know if he had any functioning brain cells, and telling him exactly what she would do to him if she saw him again anytime soon. 

Steve was hurt by her betrayal. He cared for Natasha, had accepted her despite her past, which was not stellar and unlike Bucky she didn’t have the excuse of being captured and brainwashed, she’d chosen to do those things. But Steve had decided to try and see past that and see the good in her. More fool him, since she had thrown it back in his face and switched back to supporting Tony. 

After that Steve’s only contact with the outside world came from his lawyer. 

Thankfully he had his backdated military pension which he could use to pay for legal council otherwise he’d have been stuck some green legal aid. 

The Lawyer he had advised him to plead guilty, saying that he would be better off for it, that he would be more likely to received leniency from the court if he did so. Steve however refused. He wasn’t going to lie on the off chance of getting an easier sentence, hell, when the truth came out in court he wouldn’t be going down anyway. 

His court date was set for six months time, which meant he had a long wait ahead of him and nothing to do. The Lawyer advised him to keep his head down, not to cause trouble and to look into taking some classes while he was inside, even to attend the psychotherapy that was available. 

Steve wasn’t interested in going to “School” some of the inmates could barely read or write and were taking classes to learn to do so, or so Steve learned from the nine inmates he did mix with, none of whom he’d had prior contact with so there would be less reason for fights to break out. 

He had the option of doing courses in English, Math, creative writing, psychology, art, history, and several other subjects if he wanted. Which he didn’t. He could draw without going to a class and he could read and write just fine. Therapy was also for people who was sick in the head, not for people like him so he knew he didn’t need that. 

So when he wasn’t working in the laundry he spent his time in the prison gym working out, or if the weather was fine running around the yard. Then when he was in his cell he would draw or read, sometimes he would write a letter to Bucky telling him that he bore him no ill will and that he would help him as soon as he could. 

He couldn’t send the letters of course. He wasn’t permitted any contact with Bucky, but writing the letters at least helped him to get his feelings out. 

The pictures he drew were of baby Morgan and what he imagined she’d look like as she got older, of Bucky playing with her, of the three of them together. 

He wished he could be there to enjoy the milestones with Bucky, to see the baby grow and develop. By time he would be free Morgan would be nine months old, probably learning to talk. 

Steve hoped that Bucky was coping without him. He dreaded to think about what his friend would be going through without his support, trying to raise his daughter while Tony did God knows what.   
For all he knew, Tony had abandoned them both and Bucky was now struggling on his own with caring for the baby. 

How he’d manage to do that Steve had no idea, just a few hours with her had been enough for him. Did she never stop screaming? He guessed she’d grow out of that stage, at least he hoped she would because he couldn’t imagine putting up with that long term. 

Monotony filled Steve’s days as they dragged on, his date in court seeming so far away, but all he could do was wait and plan what he would say when the judge spoke to him and how he would make everyone see that this was all Tony’s doing and nothing to do with him. 

*****

Hudson Valley.

At three months Morgan was rolling over from her belly onto her back, she was looking for both Tony and Bucky, would smile at them and was starting to reach for things. Engaging her mind was important so Tony made sure to spend time with her everyday holding up different toys that rattled, jingled, and squeaked to get her attention and hold them out to her, encouraging her to reach for them for herself. 

Mirror time was also important, it helped with her cognitive development. Morgan had been confused the first time she’d been held in front of the mirror, but she was learning to recognize herself and her parents in the glass, was even giggling when she was held up to see herself. 

She was starting to be able to support her own head, her hand to eye coordination was growing as was her curiosity. 

“She’s going to be a scientist.” Tony crowed to James, “She wants to examine everything, that’s a sure sign she’s going to be a scientific genius.”

“Uh huh and has nothing to do with the fact she has never seen some of these things and just wants to discover what they are.” James deadpanned. Well, Tony had to forgive him, no everyone could be a genius after all. 

Alfie was certainly surprised the first time Morgan curled her fingers into his hair and tugged on it. He'd grown used to the small human wriggling and making noise, but now it was actually touching him!

“Wanna bet she tries to ride him at some point?” James asked as the startled Alpaca backed away from Morgan’s bassinet. 

“We should get her a pony or something when that happens.” Tony said, ignoring the look that James gave him. As if it wasn’t an extravagant gift for a very little girl to have. 

“Well I suppose it could keep Alfie company, but lets talk about it closer to the time.”

Bath time was getting to be fun too. Morgan was getting the hang of her limbs and was enjoying kicking and splashing as she lay in the tub being scrubbed clean. This meant that both Tony and James became soaked as they tried to bath the little devil. 

At eight weeks they had moved her into her nursery and were making every effort to get her to sleep through the night, waking her up just for feeds. 

Keeping her engaged during the day was one way to encourage this as she would be more tired at night and so would sleep for longer periods. 

They set a routine of getting her into bed at eight pm and let her sleep until midnight, when they would wake her up for a feed, then have her burped, changed and settled back down to sleep again by one am to one thirty. They would then go to bed themselves and sleep until five when they would get up to feed her again and have her settled again by Sixish. 

James, thanks to serum didn’t need much more sleep and so tended to stay up, while Tony went back to bed to catch several more hours, getting up at nine with Morgan which was when she would be gotten up to start her day. 

Of course this didn’t go completely to plan, sometimes Morgan would wake early demanding attention rather than food, but under the advice from other parents online, and their Doctor, Tony and James persevered. Then, at fourteen weeks old Morgan scared the hell out of the both of them. 

They had fallen asleep in front of a movie and didn’t awaken until James’ body clock woke him at five as it normally did. Tony was still sprawled out on the sofa next to him, neither of them having gone to bed. 

James didn’t think anything of it for a moment, then he remembered that they hadn’t gone to feed Morgan at Midnight and she hadn’t cried for them. 

“Fuck Morgan!” 

He leaped off the sofa and bolted up the stairs, disturbing Tony who followed a moment later fearing as James did that something had happened to Morgan. 

They needn’t have worried though, because Morgan was happily sleeping in her crib not at all worried by the fright, she’d given her parents. 

“She went right through the night.” Tony whispered in awe.

“Ohhh who’s a clever girl, even if she did scare her mummy and daddy?” James crooned as he picked Morgan up from her crib. “Who’s my clever girl?”

Morgan whimpered and moaned at being disturbed, but quickly became aware of her hunger and was soon latching onto Tony to feed.

“Wow, sleeping through the night. Do we have to adjust her routine for that?” James asked. 

“Maybe, I’m not sure.” Tony said, “Take a look at one of the books, or we’ll look online for advice.”

He looked down at Morgan and stroked her cheek, “Who’s my budding genius, who’s going to be building amazing things with Mamma in the garage soon?”

“Uh remember our talk, nothing explosive until she’s a teenager.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember.” Tony said dismissively, “Don’t you worry precious, Mamma won’t let Daddy keep the good stuff away from you. We’ll just blow things up in secret.”

“Yeah, because I won’t notice when half the house explodes, or the two of you come out of the garage missing most of your hair.”

Tony stuck his tongue out at James and stroked Morgan’s cheek, “Don’t listen to Daddy, he’s just too chicken to use gelignite. We’ll have fun together, you’ll learn soon, I’m the fun parent, he’d the boring one who’ll make you eat green stuff that tastes bad.”

“But makes you grow tall and strong. Your Mamma never had any while he was growing up that’s why he’s so short.”

“Sadly Morgoona, your Daddy is from the Caveman era which is why his brain is defective and he has a sagging brow.” 

“Your Mamma talks too much, he’ll wear his jaw out doing so, that’s why it’s so saggy. However he makes up for it by having a perfect ass.”

Morgan blinked at her parents as they playfully bickered. She couldn’t really understand what they were saying but she liked their voices, she liked to hear them making sounds near her and smiling at her. Their smiles made her feel warm and gooy inside, just like how she felt when she was full from drinking. That felt really good and she always loved snuggling against the warm body that provided her with goodness, but she liked being carried around and tickled by the body that didn’t feed her too, that was always fun. 

The swishy splashy stuff was fun too, she was discovering that, when she waved her arms and legs she could make it go everywhere. 

The funny fuzzy odd smelling thing was nice too, it felt funny in her hand and made a funny sound. The warm bodies liked the funny thing too and would touch it and play with it like they played with her. 

Morgan was seeing more and more everyday and was getting to feel so many new things She wanted to feel everything, wanted to know everything, what the sounds her warm beings meant when they were holding her, wanted to know what all sounds meant and why they were different. She wanted to get her body to do new things, to move how she wanted it to move. 

Laying on her front was funny, so was rolling onto her back, but then she would be stuck, maybe she could learn to roll back onto her front? Maybe she’d do it today and her warm beings would make those nice rumbly sounds that made her feel tickled inside and smush their mouths against her. She liked that, she wanted that. Yes, today she would learn to roll back onto her front and learn more about what these sounds meant.


	35. Chapter 35

The smaller warm body who fed her was called Muh, at least that was what it sounded like to Morgan, a Muh sound, and the other warm body was called Dah, or at least it sounded like Dah. 

They would make those sounds when talking to her, they talked to her a lot, making all sorts of sounds, one of which they said to her often. It was a complicated sound M’g’un. She wasn’t sure what it meant but it seemed to be something to do with her. 

The funny thing that made the funny noise was called Fee, at least Morgan thought it was. The funny thing didn’t seem to mind, it made the strange noises and sniffed at Morgan, it’s funny face nuzzling against her tummy when she lay on the springy stuff that prickled under her hands. Fee ate the springy stuff, it ate lots of things, Muh and Dah gave it things to eat, but Muh never fed it from the warm soft place on his body. 

Only Morgan got that. She liked that, being snuggled up to Muh, gulping down sweetness until her belly was full. She got sleepy after that and had to go to sleep for a while before she could go back to exploring and learning. 

Rolling over from her tummy to her back and over again had the warm bodies picking her up and cuddling her and making nice noises while pressing their mouths on her. 

Morgan didn’t know why they did that, but she liked it. She liked listening to Muh and Dah when they made sounds, either to her or to each-other. She liked watching their faces change with the sounds they were making. Sometimes their faces would crease, sometimes they would curve up, sometimes, lots of times in fact they would press against each-other, their mouths touching and their hands holding each-other. 

Morgan thought it was funny to see Dah holding Muh the way he held her, Muh would be laughing and would swat at Dah, but also tug on his hair and pull him down so they could press their mouths together. 

Muh made another noise to Morgan, one that seemed to flow like the splashy stuff she liked to play in, it rose higher and sank lower and Muh would sway around with Morgan in his arms as he made the noises, stroking Morgan’s face and bopping her on the nose. The sounds were soothing, they made Morgan sleepy too, and try as she might she couldn’t help but to fall asleep even though she so wanted to keep her eyes open and keep on learning everything. 

There was so much to see, so much to hear, Morgan never seemed to have enough time to explore everything before her tummy was rumbling and she was being fed again, or her tummy felt funny and then she was wet and uncomfortable until Muh or Dah took the poofy thing off her and put another one on. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes open, to stay awake and to get her body to do more, but her eyes grew so heavy and her silly body wouldn’t do what she wanted. 

It was annoying and Morgan would try and make her displeasure known, making moaning noises that had Muh or Dah picking her up to comfort her. They didn’t understand, at least she didn’t think they did, but they did make her feel better and soon she would be forgetting her unhappiness and just laying content in the warmth of their bodies. 

Muh and Dah were not the only ones that Morgan saw. There was a tall sweet smelling one with hair that was the same colour as the long things that Fee ate. She was nice, she liked holding Morgan and making sounds at her. Her body always smelled like the pretty things that grew in the springy stuff that Fee ate outside. 

There was another one like her, one with hair that looked like the shiny thing that Muh showed Morgan in the special place, where lots of shiny things were and strange things booped and beeped and whirred at her. 

This one was harder, the body was always tense and didn’t make the same sort of noises at Morgan and the mouth didn’t stretch very much, but she smelled nice and was always gentle. 

A tall one came around, this one was darker than the others and always lifted Morgan high up over his head which was kind of fuzzy like Fee but much darker, Morgan wanted to put her fingers in it to see if it felt the same. Muh and this one made lots of noises to each-other and Muh seemed really happy while this one was there. 

A very strange one came into Morgan’s life just as she was learning to grab onto her feet and sit up. That was very fun, to not just lay on her back or her front, but to sit up with Muh or Dah holding her back, their hands warm against her and voices making encouraging sounds. 

Morgan had learned that different sounds were for different things, some encouraged her as she learned to do all this wonderful new things, some were to stop her crying, and some were because they were happy. 

The new person who came to see her was the biggest person Morgan had ever seen. He was the same colour as the springy stuff outside and his noises rumbled. He could hold Morgan in one hand he was so big and he smelled very strange. Morgan wasn’t sure of him at first, he was so big and strange. But as she held onto one of his huge fingers and he smiled down at her she learned that he was nice and wouldn’t hurt her. 

Reassured Morgan lay content against his huge body and listened as he made noises with Muh and Dah.

*****

Morgan was six months old when Bruce came to visit. Rhodey and Pepper were regular visits to the lake house and Natasha came out a few times to see them. While Rhodey and Pepper handled Morgan with ease, Natasha was always slightly stiff and nervous, she would have a nostalgic look in her eyes too, no doubt thinking of Clint’s children whom she had lost. 

There still had been no luck in tracking down Clint, sightings of him had popped up here and there, but by the time Natasha had gone to investigate he’d already been long gone. 

Thor hadn’t been in contact with any of them. Rhodey had been to Norway and seen the settlement that the Asgardian refugees were turning into their new homes, Valkyrie had spoken to him, she was all but ruling since Thor had decided to hide in the bottom of a bottle, or rather a barrel as he was drinking beer by the barrel load. 

Bruce had been in contact via e-mail or phone, but no one had seen him until now and the change in his was astounding to say the least. 

Bruce chuckled as Tony and James stared at him in shock, “Yeah, so….”

“You’ve been working out?” Tony asked, “Eating a lot of green food?”

Bruce snorted, “Something like that.”

“You and the big guy have….bonded?” 

“We have.” Bruce said sounding far more at peace than he had in far too long. 

Once over their shock Tony and James invited Bruce into the house, giving him two chairs to sit on in the kitchen since one could not possibly support his weight or size, he must have been seven feet tall and his shoulders were at least four feet wide. 

Over tea and biscuits Bruce explained what had happened, how he and Hulk had hashed things out, how they had come to an understanding over their both losing to Thanos, and once they had achieved that common ground they somehow merged, their bodies becoming as one. The rage of Hulk was gone, the beast had been calmed as he had been absorbed into Bruce, learning calmness and wisdom from Bruce, where Hulk taught Bruce not to fear strength or to see all aggression as dangerous and wrong. 

“It’s been odd.” He said holding a cookie between his index finger and thumb, the biscuit looking like a dot in his huge hand. “Suddenly growing, my skin turning green. At first I thought there was something wrong, that I was cracking up or my sight was going, but after I gained five inches in as many days I realized what was happening and accepted it.”

“Must have been painful.” James said his nose wrinkling, “I remember growing pains when I was kid, it wasn’t pretty.”

“Some of us never had them.” Tony grumbled the growth spurt he was supposed to have gone through in adolescence having never really happened. 

“Aww I like that you’re pocket sized.” James teased, his grin growing wider when Tony swatted him 

“It did ache a bit.” Bruce said, “But I think being enhanced stopped a lot of the pain,”

“Hmm, I could have done with that while giving birth.” Tony mused. 

James put his arm about Tony’s shoulders and squeezed them, reminding him of what a good job he did, making Bruce smile at the interaction. 

“I’ve got to say I was surprised learning about the two of you getting together.” He said, “I couldn’t really picture it working in my mind, but seeing you now…” He sat back as much as he dared in the chairs, “Yeah, it works, the two of you fit.”

Tony smiled a little wryly at Bruce and James relaxed, losing the last of his tension. He didn’t know Bruce as well as Tony and didn’t know how well to trust him, he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to face a fight against such a being, but hearing Bruce’s honest declaration and seeing the genuine happiness for them in his eyes, James felt that he could lower his guard. 

“I uh I heard about Steve.” Bruce said, his expression turning sad, “I’m sorry Tony. I knew he could be bull headed, biased in his opinions, but I never thought he’d stoop so low as to attack you and Morgan.”  
“Neither did we.” Tony said patting James’ knee when the Alpha growled under his breath, Steve was still a very sore subject and likely would be for a long time to come. 

“He’s pleading innocent to the charges I hear?” Bruce shook his head, “I can’t fathom what he must be thinking, what he was thinking coming her and trying to take Morgan at all.”

“Don’t try to big Guy, you’ll just give yourself a migraine!” Tony said. He rose to his feet as Morgan gave a few cries over the monitor as she woke up from her nap, “Excuse me.” He said going to get her. 

Bruce helped himself to another biscuit. He had to eat about ten thousand calories a day now he’d grown so large. His body required a lot of fuelling. Thankfully he had work in a University in Mexico and he was becoming quite popular, the restaurants giving him free food as his presence attracted custom, if they didn’t he would be struggling to buy enough food to fulfil his bodies requirements. 

“This is a really nice place the two of you have.” He said to James, “I never pictured Tony in a place like this. I always saw him some where…. I don’t know, more sterile, all crome and polished surfaces, not polished and hard wood. I certainly never thought he’d have an Alpaca as a pet!” James snorted at that.

“Alfie made himself at home here, he turned up when we moved in and we didn’t have the heart to give him away.”

“And you, you are happy here, out in the country, away from New York and it’s excitement?”

“I think I’ve had enough excitement for one lifetime.” James said, “Building rowing boats, tending the garden, baking cakes and biscuits, being a Father and a Husband, that’s all I want now.” He frowned and tapped his metal fingers on the table, “Steve couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t figure out why I wouldn’t want to be in New York, settle back in Brooklyn, continue being a soldier. But then he always wanted to be a soldier where I never did.” 

“No?” Bruce looked surprised at this.

“I was drafted.” James said with a shrug, “I was happy to serve, I knew what the Nazis were doing and I was happy to help put a stop to it, but I didn’t want to be a career soldier, I would rather have been a grease monkey, have settled down with a girl or an Omega, have Pups, and lived a quiet life.   
Steve though, Steve always wanted to fight, he always thrived on confrontation, on making as much noise as he could.” James shook his head, “I gave him so many chances, I wanted him to be happy for me, to accept that I had changed since the forties, that I couldn’t be his Bucky anymore. I hoped that he’d accept me and Tony, be happy for us, be an Uncle to Morgan. Instead he threw it all back in my face, hurt Tony and Morgan. I can’t forgive him for that, not ever.”

Bruce nodded, “I don’t blame you. I couldn’t either.”

“Have you gone to see him or spoken to him at all?” James asked. While Steve was in a supermax he was allowed visitors and phone calls just as all convicts were. 

“No, and I won’t.” Bruce said. He shifted as much as he dared on the chairs, “While I have a handle on my rage now I tend to avoid situations that might get me agitated. I don’t see the point in risking losing control.”

“Wise.” James agreed. 

The two men sat in silence for several minutes until Tony came in with Morgan who was wide awake and babbling away to herself. When she caught sight of Bruce her eyes widened and she made a whimpering noise, snuggling against Tony. 

“Hey now Princess, Uncle Hulk isn’t going to hurt you.” Tony soothed her, “He’s a big teddy bear, he’s all cuddles.” 

“More a Jolly Green Giant.” Bruce said looking down at the six month old, “Oh Tony, she’s beautiful, and so like you. She is the image of you.”

“I keep telling him that.” James said grinning, “Tony argues.”

“She has your nose.” Tony said, “And your feet.” 

“Everything else is you though, isn’t it Princess?” James said blowing a raspberry which made Morgan giggle and kick her feet. 

“Do you want to hold her?” Tony asked Bruce. The Hulk looked surprised but nodded and very gingerly took Morgan into his huge hands, he could have held her in one alone he was so big, and she looked like a miniature doll against his chest. 

Morgan squirmed and made a few unhappy sounds, looking uncertain at the green behemoth, but Bruce very gently rocked her and spoke to her soothingly and slowly but surely Morgan relaxed against him. 

“I’ll bet you are keeping your Mamma and Daddy in their toes aren’t you angel?” Bruce crooned to Morgan, “Well good, your Mamma deserves to have someone who’s as much trouble as he is. When you are bigger you need to poke him with pointy things.”

“Pointy things?” James asked raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Tony said, “And you stop corrupting my Morgoona.” He said to Bruce, “She and I are going to be lab buddies soon, aren’t we Princess?” 

Morgan giggled and wiggled her feet and Tony’s tickled them. 

“A new Stark genius to terrorize the world of science and break the laws of physics.” Bruce chuckled, “No doubt we’ll have flying cars and teleportation in the next twenty or so years.”

“Ugh don’t mention flying cars, Howard’s fuck up with that still haunts me.” Tony groaned, “It was never going to work, is never going to work, and Christ could you imagine the death toll? Regular cars cause enough deaths each years without making cars that fly.”

“I dunno Doll, it could be cool.” James teased, grinning at the sour look Tony shot him. 

“You thought Apollo 18 was cool.” While they could agree on most things, James’ taste in movies and decent sci fi did leave something to be desired at times, or so Tony felt anyway. 

“It wasn’t that bad.” James said half heartedly he knew when to pick his battles. 

“So, speaking of futuristic projects, are you working on anything at the moment?” Bruce asked Tony. 

The Omega shook his head, “I’ve only just finished Maternity leave and Pepper’s only just started to send me a few requests for updates on Stark Pads and Phones. Honestly all I’m really thinking about is Morgan these days.” He had to chuckled even to himself to be saying it, but it was true. Despite his past work ethic and his desire to push the laws of science to their absolute limits, now he had Morgan, he just didn’t have the same urge to spend his time engrossed in work anymore. He would rather be with her than spending his days in the lab.

Morgan was growing so fast, was gaining new skills with each passing day and Tony didn’t want to miss and single thing.


	36. Chapter 36

The day in court couldn’t have come fast enough for Steve. Being in Prison had worn him down, having no visitors, very limited contact with others, and being forced to spend the majority of his time alone in his cell had left him feeling like a caged tiger. 

Thanks to the serum he didn’t sleep much, which meant he had endless hours of nothing to do. He could only draw so much and he had to buy what magazines and books he wanted to read with his spends and that required saving up the money in his prison account and having to do with less of other things like snacks. 

While he was not being starved, the prison diet was not great to say the least. It was basic cheap fare that could be mass supplied and served with minimal effort. Porridge, or cereal, toast, poorly cooked bacon, powdered egg mix scrambled, and some undisclosed meat stuffed into tubes that claimed to be sausages was what was on offer for breakfast. 

Lunch was usually the main meal, Shepards pie, lasagne, fishermans pie, a single hamburger patty in a bun with chips, macaroni cheese. Chilli. Were the usual meals with vegetarian alternatives. The meat was cheap cuts and tasteless, the pasta over cooked, the cheese over-processed, and the potatoes power mixes.   
The desserts were little better, two scoops of ice cream, a pot of rice pudding, a pot of jelly with fruit, a slice of tasteless apple pie or treacle tart topped with a spoonful of packet mixed custard. 

Supper was either sandwiches containing processed meats or cheese, sometimes fish paste, soup   
with a bread roll, single servings of pre-packaged potato salad and coleslaw, and meatloaf. There were a few sweets on offer too, cup cakes with a smear of icing on them, or slices of Battenberg, cookies, and yogurts. 

Having grown used to being able to eat his fill over the past few years, Steve never felt completely satisfied by the meals and he soon began to crave the foods he’d had on the outside. 

Simple things like peanut butter and jam sandwiches, donuts, pizza, and tacos. He also craved the rich fare he’d come to enjoy while living with Tony, real Italian Gelato, Gourmet Burgers, fine roasted coffee that cost forty dollars a bag. He missed being able to just go to the fridge when he was hungry and getting something to eat, or ordering Chinese, he missed variety and choice, two things that he had very little of in prison. 

He tried to supplement his diet with the snacks he could buy with his spends, bags of crisps, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate bars, but his spends didn’t go very far and he needed other things like deodorant. 

In the hours when sleep eluded him and he had no inspiration to draw, he would pace his cell like a restless beast, walking back and forth, going over things in his mind, trying to figure out what he could have done differently during his last confrontation with Tony, what he would do when he got out of this hellhole and how he would make Tony pay for all of this. 

The especially vicious part of him wanted to beat Tony, to finish the job he’d started in Siberia. To beat that smug smirk off the Billionaire’s face, to break his arms and legs, to crush his vertebrae one by one, before finally smashing open Tony’s skull. 

He let himself indulge these thoughts for a while, imagining the feel of Tony’s bones breaking under his fists, the sound of his screaming, and the look of fear that would be in the Billionaire’s eyes as he realized that Steve would show him no mercy. 

But, these were just fantasies he would never carry out, he knew he couldn’t kill Tony and get away with it, but he could and would make Tony pay, if not physically then monetarily. He would sue Tony for wrongful imprisonment, slander, and harassment. 

Tony’s claims against him had seen him locked up in this place, had damaged his reputation and were threatening his future, he deserved to be compensated for what he had endured and he would damn well make sure that he was by taking a sizable chunk of Tony’s fortune. 

It would be worth all of this misery just to the see the look of outrage on Tony’s face when he was ordered to pay Steve Millions, hell maybe Billions of dollars in compensation. 

Steve would make good use of the money, helping to fund the Avengers, and building a good home for Morgan and Bucky. Morgan’s education had to be provided for and Tony’s money could do that. He would also make sure that she and Bucky lacked for nothing, that everything they could ever possibly need he would provide for them. 

So it was with a confident smile on his face and swagger in his step that Steve went to court to face his trial. 

*****

Morgan was nine months old and into everything. Tony and James were constantly worrying about what their little troublemaker would be into next. 

Since learning to crawl there had been no stopping Morgan and absolutely nothing was sacred to her, everything within reach had to be investigated, picked up, shaken, bashed on the floor and ever chewed on, (Which had them both cringing when she tried to eat James’ trainers) 

Proving herself to be just as intelligent as her Mother, Morgan had started to speak at seven months, he first word being “Affie” and directed at the Alpaca, who was a constant friend to her, letting her hold onto his legs and use him to try and pull herself up, and chasing after her as she speed crawled along the ground. 

The next words to follow were Ma, Da, No, and sadly Shit. 

Tony blamed James for the last one and James blamed Tony. Morgan just giggled at them as they argued and went back to whatever game she was playing, be it with the furniture or her growing mass of toys. 

With her getting so active the two parents decided it would be better if she was not in court with them. She would get too restless and was bound to start crying or throwing a tantrum out of sheer boredom, so they arranged for Pepper to mind Morgan while they were at court. 

“We’re going to have a girly day, aren’t we precious?” Pepper said, bouncing Morgan on her hip. 

“No!” Morgan said happily, she was smiling despite the negative clearly meaning yes. 

“Everything she’ll need is in the bag.” Tony said fretfully, “She’s got a small nappy rash so put a bit of extra talc on her when you change her and don’t let her drag herself across the floor as it irritates the rash, encourage her to crawl instead. She’ll take a nap after lunch, if she’s reluctant read her a Disney fairy tale, that usually gets her off, and if she gets really fussy she’s got her penguin in the bag.”

“Alright I think I’ve it covered.” Pepper said trying not to laugh at Tony’s helicopter parenting. “We’re going to go for a walk in the park and maybe pop into a café, and we’ll play on the mat with all the noisy toys.” Pepper said to Morgan who giggled at her. 

“Okay, well, you be a good girl for auntie Pepper, alright Princess?” Tony said kissing Morgan.

“Ma.” She purred happily. 

“Have a good day.” James said, “Don’t be too much trouble and we’ll be home soon.”

“Da.” Morgan said reaching out for James. He bent down hugged her before letting go and saying goodbye to Pepper. 

“Ma!, Da!” Morgan exclaimed as her parents went to the lift, “Ma!”

“They’ll be home soon Morgan.” Pepper said to the baby, Morgan turned her head to look at her. 

“Ma?” She asked and looked back to the lift, “Ma, Da!”

“Later little one.” Pepper assured her, “Now how about we have a play before we go out for a walk hm?”

“Shit!”

Pepper sighed, “And please don’t say that when we’re out in the park.”

*****

A lot of press had gathered at the court, the case had attracted a lot of media attention and attention from the general public who had gathered to wave signs in support of Tony or Steve. The police had put up barriers to keep them back so people who had to go into court could do so unimpeded. That however didn’t stop the flashing cameras and the questions that were screamed out, the cries of support or insults each party. 

James kept a firm hold of Tony as they went up into court, he was extra glad they hadn’t brought Morgan as all the noise would have upset her and probably frightened her. 

Tony’s personal lawyer met them along with the prosecution council and explained what would be happening, Tony would be called to the witness stand first so he could give his statement. The prosecution would open, then it would be Steve’s lawyer’s turn to question. 

“They don’t have much to fight the case with.” The prosecution councillor said, “There is a mountain of evidence against Rogers, medical evidence, DNA, and prior legal complaints filed against him for harassment. The defence will try to pressure you into admitting to having a personal vendetta against Roger’s, they will likely bring up what happened in the Civil War, your past arguments, and, if they are particularly vicious they may bring up your mental health and competency.”

James scoffed, “What the hell would Tony’s mental health have to do with any of this? Mine, sure, I’d get why they’d try and use that, but why Tony?”

Tony’s lawyer sighed, “They could claim that Tony’s PTSD makes him paranoid and prone to violent outbursts, they could claim that he was suffering PND or ever Post-Partum Psychosis and it caused him to become hysterical and lash out at Rogers unfairly.”

“That’s bullshit!” James snarled.

“Easy, it doesn’t matter.” Tony said rubbing the back of James’ flesh hand, “They haven’t any evidence to support PND or Post-Partum, so it would be merely conjecture on the lawyers part.”

“It’s still shit though.” James grumbled.

“It is a dirty hand to play but one we should be prepared for.” The prosecution said, “You must also be prepared to have your own history brought up, I have no doubt that the exploits of the Winter Soldier will be mentioned. The defence will do whatever they can to make you seem unstable and violent.”

James nodded, “I figured they would.” 

“Well, while we cannot deny what you did when you were in Hydra’s clutches, we can point out how much restraint you showed Rogers prior to this incident, and how, even in an Alpha rage, you were able to be brought out of it by your mate.” Tony’s lawyer said, “That will be enough to put doubt in the minds of the jury to the claims of you being unstable.”

Tony squeezed James’ hand, “We’ll be okay.” He said, with more confidence than he felt. 

The Prosecution Council glanced over Tony’s shoulder, seeing an usher, “It’s time to go in.” He said, “Remember, answer questions clearly and concisely, don’t let the defence get you flustered or upset.”

“Got it.” Tony said gripping James’ hand just a little bit tighter and braced himself to go into court.

*****

The Judge presiding called the court to order and had the prosecution and defence give their opening statements. 

Steve was sat down at the front dock with his defence lawyer, he glanced around the court, spotting Tony sat next to Bucky, with Rhodey and Natasha in the row behind them. Rhodey glared at him when he caught his eye and Natasha just looked away refusing to acknowledge him at all. Her coldness and betrayal hurt but Steve swallowed it down, it wasn’t the first time Natasha had turned on him, she’d done so with the accords before changing her mind and jumping to his side, honestly he should have known better than to ever trust her. 

As the prosecution and defence finished laying out their statements for the jury, the Prosecution called Tony to the stand. 

Steve watched with narrowed eyes as Tony made his way to the stand. He was dressed immaculately in a three-piece designer suit that fit him like a glove. He had lost the remaining weight from his pregnancy and looked slim and smart, his hair was freshly cut and held in place by just the right amount of gel, his beard was trimmed to perfection, and Steve would bet that he smelled of an expensive cologne. 

He didn’t so much as glance at Steve as he went by him, just went straight to the stand and swore on the bible. Steve could scoff at that, Tony Stark telling the truth, that would be the day. 

“Mr Stark.” The prosecution council said, “In your own words, can you describe what happened on the day in question to the court.”

“I was at home alone with Morgan. James had gone to get some groceries.” Tony said pausing as the councillor cut him off. 

“Morgan being your daughter and James being your mate?”

“Yes.” Tony confirmed before continuing, “I had a major overhaul of my intranet and systems to do which required for me to disable the systems in our home while I worked on them. This meant that the intruder alert system was not functioning so Steve Rogers was able to gain access to our home without my knowledge.”

The Council stopped Tony, “Was Steve Rogers aware of this, intruder system?” 

“Yes.” Tony said. 

“And how did he know that it was disabled?” 

“We, I mean myself and my husband later learned from the police that Steve Rogers had been camping outside our property for some time prior to his entering our home and had been spying on us.” 

“Spying on you, presumably with malicious intent?”

“Objection your honour, the council is leading the witness.” Steve’s lawyer said getting to his feet.

“Sustained,” The judge narrowed her eyes at the prosecution, “Stick to the facts, do not make conjecture.” 

“I apologize your honour.” The prosecution councillor said, “Mr Stark, please, tell us what happened when Steve Rogers entered your property.”

Steve grit his teeth and clenched his fists as Tony told the court of how he had been knocked unconscious and had woken up hurt and concussed to find his baby missing from her crib.

“You were suffering a concussion and you saw that your baby daughter was missing?”

“Yes.” Tony said.

“You must have been terrified.”

“Objection…”

“Merely a statement.” The Prosecution councillor said, “Any parent who found the child missing would be terrified.”

“Agreed.” The judge said, “But tread carefully.”

The account continued and Tony told the court of how he’d staggered downstairs to find Steve holding Morgan too tight, how he refused to give her back and how he had injured her.

“That’s not true!” Steve cried out. 

“Silence in court!” The Judge shouted banging her gravel.

“Let me handle this.” His lawyer stressed. 

“We have medical evidence to support the allegation of Steve Rogers harming Morgan Stark.” The Prosecution said, “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, Exhibit A, photographs taken of bruising on Morgan Stark’s ribs during a hospital examination. The patten of bruising is a match to the span of Steven Rogers hands showing that he hurt the infant while she was being handled by him.”

Steve flinched, he hadn’t known that. He’d not thought he’d held Morgan that tightly, he hadn’t meant to hurt her. 

He stared at the photos of the livid bruising on Morgan’s tiny chest, bruises in the shape of hands, his hands. He’d thought he’d been careful with her, thought that he was being gentle. 

“I didn’t mean to do that.” He whispered, too low for his lawyer to hear him. He gazed down at his hands wishing he could wash them, they felt dirty right now, filthy, covered in the pain of tiny baby girl. He hardly paid attention to what Tony or the prosecution said next, only lifting his head when Tony’s injuries were documented, more exhibits of photos and medical reports were shown to the jury. 

A horrible knot formed in his stomach as Tony’s skull fracture and concussion were detailed, and the X-rays of his broken elbow from where he’d hit it, falling to the ground after wrestling Morgan from Steve’s arms. 

As the prosecution finished with Tony and Steve’s defence rose to cross examine, Steve shut out the words. He had thought Tony’s injuries had been exaggerated by the Omega, had thought he just had a split scalp and a bruised or sprained elbow that he’d played up for the police, he hadn’t thought that either had really required medical treatment, but X-rays and Doctors reports couldn’t be faked, he had done that, been the cause of that, just as he had caused Morgan’s injuries, a truth he was finding very hard to swallow.


	37. Chapter 37

After Tony’s testimony was given a short recess was called, Steve was taken to the holding cells while he waited for the court to be reconvened. Bucky would be called next to give his testimony, after him the police would present their evidence and finally Steve himself would be allowed to speak.

He’d had his speech all planned out, he’d been ready to tell the court of how he was being maligned by Tony, how this was all a vendetta against him. He had been certain, so sure of himself, but since learning of Morgan’s injuries his certainty was wavering. 

“I think I have managed to place some doubt in the minds of the jurors.” Steve’s lawyer said, “Tony’s Stark’s past exploits are already well known and retelling of his volatile nature will help convince them that he is prone to violent and destructive actions.”

Steve didn’t reply to that. He hadn’t really listened to what his lawyer had said to Tony, or what Tony had said in response, he’d heard Siberia mentioned, as well as Ultron, and Tony’s drinking and wild lifestyle before Afghanistan.   
The Judge had clearly not been impressed by this as she had ended the lines of questioning several times and urged Steve’s Lawyer to stay on the topic in question. 

“Barnes will be easier.” The Lawyer said, “The whole world knows of the Winter Soldier, of the crimes he has committed, the many murders, that he lost control once again and tried to kill you will be an easy sell, and his past mental weakness and susceptibility to being manipulated by outside sources can be easily presented to the jury and have them considering the possibility of Stark having manipulated Barnes.” 

“You can’t blame him.” Steve said, finally speaking up, “Bucky isn’t to blame for what he did as the Winter Soldier.”

“Indeed, and the fact his mind has been broken before will make it easy for jurors to believe that he has lost his wits again.” 

Steve didn’t like that. He didn’t like the way the lawyer was making it sound like Bucky was some simple minded fool being led around like a dog on a leash. 

“Your own testimony still needs to be considered. You need to be clear and concise in what you were intending to do. That there is evidence of your squatting outside of the Stark/Barnes residence is not in your favour, but, if we use the angle of Barnes being weak minded and vulnerable you might be able to gain the jurors sympathy and able to convince them that you only went into the house to protect your friend and his daughter.”

“That’s true, I did.” Steve said. “I never meant to hurt her.” He winced as he thought of Morgan’s bruised ribs, “I really did that?” He asked the lawyer, “It couldn’t have been Tony when he was running or when he snatched her from me?”

“No, the hand prints are a match to yourself. Tony Stark’s hands are smaller than yours.” 

“And the evidence is real, it hasn’t been faked?” 

“No.” The Lawyer frowned at Steve’s questioning. Steve’s heart sank, so much for that get out of guilt free card. 

“You will have to keep your cool on the stand. The Prosecution will be hard on you, will try to get under your skin……” Steve shut the lawyer’s voice out, his mind going over the time he had Morgan in his arms, trying to figure out when he had held her too tight and caused her injuries. Indeed the poor little mite had been crying constantly while in his arms, he’d thought she was just crying for hunger or something, but now he realized she may have been in pain and could only express the pain by crying. 

Beside him his lawyer droned on apparently blind to Steve’s distress, but then to him this was just a job, it didn’t really matter to him what the outcome was, only that he did his duty. To him Steve was just a client and Morgan’s injuries, Tony and Bucky’s lives didn’t matter in the slightest. 

Steve found himself wondering how defence lawyers lived with themselves when they got the clearly guilty acquitted, let murderers and rapists walk free from justice, and he hated to think that he was having to make use of the service of such a man. 

*****

While on recess James and Tony called Pepper to see how Morgan was doing. They were in the park and Morgan was enjoying crawling around on the grass and seeing so many other children with their parents of child minders, either on the grass as she was, or playing on the swings and slides. She was still too young for that yet, but it wouldn’t be long before she was big enough to join them in such games. 

“We’ll have to get a swing and slide set for the garden.” Tony had said.

“Or perhaps I can make one.” James had offered, he didn’t think it would be too difficult, “If we get the wood and a designs I think I can do it.”

“Yeah, that should be fine.” Tony agreed, “I’ll have Friday look up some plans, we’ll go to a hardware wholesaler and get the wood and everything else we need. It can be a new project.”

“Along with the boat.” James said grinning as Tony groaned and rolled his eyes at the mention of the vessel he was building to sail on the lake. 

Before they went back into court Tony’s lawyer again stressed the need for James to remain calm on the stand as Steve’s defence was bound to bring up his time as the Winter soldier and try to get him angry. 

Tony had done well under the scrutiny, keeping his temper and managing to not be too sarcastic which was his usual method to deal with such lines of questioning. 

“Good luck.” Rhodey said squeezing James’ flesh shoulder, Natasha murmured a similar sentiment in Russian to him and gave him the ghost of a smile. Tony however hugging him tight and kissed him fiercely. 

“You’ve got this babe, you can do this.”

“I can.” James said kissing Tony’s forehead, “And I will.”

Again the prosecution led the questioning, asking James to recount his version of events before the defence has his turn. 

James mentally braced himself and sat up straighter as Steve’s defence lawyer began, “You claim that your attack on my client was in the defence of your mate and pup, correct?” 

“It was.” James said. 

“An Alpha rage brought on by a threat to your mate and Pups wellbeing.” 

“Yes.”

“And was this the first occasion you have experienced an Alpha rage?” 

James paused and glanced at Tony, “Not exactly.” He admitted.

“Your honour we are talking about one incident not past action.” The prosecution said. “Already my colleague has delved into history with Mr Stark, must we again have a history lesson with Sergeant Barnes?”

“I am merely trying to establish a character profile for the jury, so they may for an opinion with all the relevant facts.” Steve’s lawyer said. 

“Sustained.” The judge allowed, “But do not delve too far back.”

The defence nodded and looked back to James, “Can you elaborate other incidences of your Alpha Rage?” 

James shifted uncomfortably, “There is only one other incident I can recall, if others happened when I was the Winter Soldier I do not recollect them.” He looked to the Jury, “While I remember much of what I did in that time, the full details are still lost.” 

“Understood Sergeant.” The Judge said and looked to the jurors, “Sergeant Barnes’ past as the Winter Soldier are not relevant in this trial, do not think of them when forming your opinions.”

“Objection your honour.” The defence said, “Captain Roger’s history with Sergeant Barnes is relevant in this trial and their shared history includes the Sergeant’s time as the Winter Soldier.”

“All of which is already known by the entire planet.” The judge said, “There is no need to dredge up stories we all already know. Now proceed with this questioning or dismiss the witness.”

Across the court Tony smiled at James and winked at him, James bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling back and went into details of how he had gone into an Alpha rage several weeks prior to the incident in question, when he had found Steve in the house with a very distressed Tony and Morgan. 

“Had Captain Rogers made an physical assault on Mr Stark during that episode?” 

“No.” James said, “Not that time, but he had hit Tony before, more than once.”

“But not at that time.” The lawyer stressed, at James’ negative he went on, “Yet you attacked and nearly beat my client to death. It was only when your mate called out to you that you stopped your assault.”

“Objection your honour, my client is not the one on trial here.”

“Maybe he should be, he has very violent tendencies.” 

“As has your client…” Both councils fell silent as the Judge banged her gravel. 

“I will have order in court.” She stated and ordered the defence to move on in the line of questioning. 

“Sergeant Barnes. You claim you attacked Captain Rogers when you found him at the roadside attacking your Husband, correct?”

“Yes.” 

“How could you be sure that Captain Rogers was attacking your husband at the time? Could he not have been trying to help your Husband who had simply fallen while out for a walk.”

Several people scoffed at this question, James himself included, “Tony had a fractured skull and broken elbow.” He said, “He was bleeding, in pain, and terrified. I could have smelled his fear from a mile away the scent was so strong.”

“And could his terror not simply have been cause by his fear from falling while carrying your pup in his arms?” 

James grit his teeth and growled out his answer, “Steve Rogers was not meant to be anywhere near my Mate and Child, we had a restraining order against him. There was no reason for him to be there, and what I saw was not Steve helping Tony back to his feet, but him fighting with Tony.”

The Defence council nodded, “You must have excellent perception if you could deduce that from one glance.”

“Speculation.” The Judge said. 

“I withdraw the statement.” The defence said and went on with his questioning, bringing up the past instances where it was “Claimed” that Steve had been violent to Tony and it had not caused James to go into a rage. 

“I did stay my hand for our friendship.” James said, “I kept hoping that things would change, that I could have both my love and my friend in my life. But Steve would not accept mine and Tony’s relationship, was some how convinced that Tony was….dangerous, it is an obsession for him, much like his obsession with the past and how we were back then. Rather than moving with the times and accepting that we will never again be those two boys from Brooklyn, he is determined to try and turn back time and pick up where we left off and damn the consequences of doing so.” James sighed heavily, “I saw Steve raise his hand to Tony more than once and I gave him a second chance. I wanted so to believe in our friendship, in the good man I thought I knew. I even took him back into my life after we had an argument about my wanting to surprise Tony with an engagement ring.” James ducked his head, “I regret doing so now, I regret not breaking ties with Steve earlier as much as I regret my actions as the Winter Soldier which will haunt me until my dying day. I will always feel guilt for what I have done, willing or no, and for allowing him to do more harm to my mate and if I could turn back time I would change the situation and stop any contact between myself and Steve before any of this happened.”

The Jury looked quite moved by James’ testimony, his heartfelt statement of regret over his inaction towards Steve before their final confrontation. The defence finished the questioning and James was allowed to retire from the stand, joining Tony again as the Police officers were called to give their testimony. 

After another recess so everyone could have lunch and stretch their legs, the trial began again with the police officers giving their testimony about what they had seen and the evidence they had found, telling of the Alpha Rage they had seen in James, his crimson eyes and that they had remained bloodshot for over a week after. 

The Doctor who had examined Tony, and the Doctor who had treated Morgan gave their statements and testified to the injuries upon both Tony and Morgan and their belief of how the injuries occurred. The defence tried to offer counter arguments, but it was difficult to argue with such evidence and so the defence kept the questioning brief before dismissing them. 

The judge called and end to the trial for that day and ordered for the court to reconvene the following Morning when Steve would be called to the stand to give his testimony. 

“Let’s hope this doesn’t go on for more than another day.” Tony said as he and James left the court, having to struggle past the photographers and journalists to get to the car, “I don’t like being away from Morgan.” 

“You could stay with her tomorrow.” James offered, “Now you have given your testimony you don’t have to be in court any longer.” 

“No.” Tony said, “I need to see this through.” He gave James a smile, “You did really well today, I’m proud of you.”

“Prouder than I am of myself.” James said, he smiled and nodded as Tony began to tell him not to blame himself for anything Steve had done, but deep down inside James would continue to carry that guilt which he felt was his due for not doing more to prevent this.


	38. Chapter 38

Morgan didn’t mind spending time with her Auntie Pepper. She always smelled nice and she had a nice voice, but she wasn’t Mamma or Daddy, no one was as good as her Mamma or Daddy. 

Mamma always talked a lot and about all sorts of things. Morgan couldn’t understand what they were all about but she liked listening to him talk about them. Sometimes he would show her pictures on one of his shiny things that changed when he ran his finger over them. She especially liked the pictures of the stars. Mamma and Daddy had taken her outside at nights sometimes and let her look up at the sky when it was clear, so she could see the sky and the stars. 

It looked so pretty up there, all twinkly and shiny. It was different to the pictures Mamma had shown her, but no less pretty and Morgan hoped that one day she could visit the stars. 

Mamma also showed her other things, pictures of these mountains with fire running out of them, big places that were like the inside of the cold thing that ice cream came out of. Morgan very much liked Ice Cream but Mamma and Daddy only let her have a few tastes of it despite how much she wanted to have more. One day she would have a whole bowl of ice cream just like Mamma and Daddy. 

Morgan liked going into Mamma’s garage too, it was so much fun in there, with all the shiny and flashy things, the bots who beeped and booped at her and sprayed the funny stuff that had Mamma groaning and scolding them. 

Mamma would show Morgan lots of things in the garage, things he put together which made them into bigger things, some which moved, so that lit up and made noises. Morgan wanted to make these things with Mamma, but her little hands were too clumsy, she couldn’t make her building blocks stay up right for very long, they always fell over and she had to start again. Mamma and Daddy would help her too and encourage her to keep on trying. It would be easier if she could stand but her stupid legs wouldn’t hold her when she tried, the stupid things started wobbling and she landed on her bum. She had cried the first time it has happened and Mamma had spent a long time cuddling her and promising her everything would be alright. 

Now when it happened she didn’t cry, but it annoyed her. She could stay upright if she was holding something, like Mamma or Daddy’s hands, or the things they sat on, but she couldn’t stay standing if she tried to do it without. 

She especially like it when Daddy held her hands when she tried to stay upright, because he would lift her up when her knees gave out and hold her above his head and pretend, he was putting her into the ceiling or say that she was flying. Daddy made the best voices when she was being told a story at bedtime and he’d encourage her splashing in the bath even though Mamma complained about the water going everywhere. 

Being in the high up place was okay but Morgan missed home. She missed Alfie, she missed her room, and she didn’t like that Mamma and Daddy weren’t with her all day and when they were with her in the evening they seemed tired and tense. 

Morgan didn’t know what was going on but she didn’t like it. She didn’t like how Mamma wasn’t relaxed and soft when she was being held, or how Daddy’s voice didn’t seem as loud or cheerful as it usually was. 

Morgan could only hope that whatever was going on would end soon so they could all go home and things would be back to normal. 

*****

Steve hardly slept the night before his turn to testify. Every time he dropped off he would end up dreaming about Morgan and the bruising on her ribs, but in his dreams he would do worse than just bruise her. His hands would hold her too tightly and would crush her ribs, sometimes even putting his hands completely through them and snapping Morgan’s tiny body in half with a shower of blood spraying everywhere. Sometimes her ribs would collapse into her lungs and he would be hit in the face with her blood as it sprayed out of her mouth, sometimes her whole body would fall apart in his hands and he would be left holding slimy, bloody organs while the rest of Morgan lay in pieces at his feet. 

Twice Steve ended up kneeling over the toilet bowl bringing up his stomach contents after such a nightmare. 

While consciously he knew it wasn’t real, knew that Morgan was alive and well, his subconscious wasn’t so convinced and was torturing him with these ghastly images. 

He gave up on sleep after the third such dream and just spent the night laying on his back in his bunk staring at the ceiling. He hated it, hated that he’d hurt her. He truly had not meant to do so, but she was so tiny and he had never held a baby before, he hadn’t realized that he wasn’t being gentle enough. 

He would admit fault on that, would apologize for that, for hurting Morgan. If a Mea Culpa was what Bucky needed from him then he would give it and gladly, because he truly did feel guilty about hurting his niece. 

He was called by the warden an hour early for his breakfast so they could get him into transport and off to court on time. 

Steve could hardly wait to get to tell his side of the story, he needed to get this over with, needed to get everything off his chest once and for all. 

As he was giving his testimony today, Steve was taken to the stand rather than the dock, the judge called the court to order and this time his own lawyer took lead in questioning. 

“Captain Rogers, can you tell us in your own words what happened on the day in question.”

“I went into the garage to talk to Tony.” Steve said, “I hadn’t spoken to him in a while and I hoped that I might be able to talk some sense into him.”

“Some sense, do you mean about the restraining order?”

“Yes.” Steve replied. 

“Go on.”

“Tony hit me and I defended myself, I only meant to push him away but unfortunately he hit his head as he fell. I could have just left him in the garage but we were friends at one time so I decided to help him. I carried him into the house and lay him on his bed, I got a first aid kit from the bathroom and treated his head wound as best I could. 

I could have run then, just left the house, left Tony on the bed at risk of choking on his own vomit, but I didn’t, I decided to stay until Bucky got home, I also wanted to speak to him very much.

Morgan was in her crib, I picked her up and carried her downstairs. I thought I was being careful but I had never held a baby before and I guess I squeezed her too hard.” Steve looked over to the jury his expression distraught, “I had no idea I had hurt her, it makes me sick that I did and I am so sorry for doing so. I’m thankful it was only bruises and nothing worse, but bruises are bad enough and I am ashamed for that.” He looked to the judge, “I understand if I do time for that, I deserve to do time for that. I hurt a baby, and I need to do whatever I can to make amends for that.” 

The judge nodded, “Your remorse for Morgan Stark-Barnes injuries has been noted Captain.” She looked to the defence, “You may continue.”

“What happened while you were downstairs with Morgan, Captain?”

“Nothing for a long time.” Steve said, “I was just with her in the kitchen, then Tony came in.” He looked at Tony who was sat next to Bucky glaring at him, “He was concussed, rambling incoherently, he started screaming non-sensically at me. I kept telling him to go and sit down, to go back to bed, but he wouldn’t listen and then he was lashing out at me, scratching at my eyes and pulled Morgan from my arms.”

“Mr Stark pulled Morgan out of your arms?”

“He did, and he fell to the floor holding her hitting and, I am told breaking his elbow.” Steve shook his head, “Morgan could have been dropped, he was putting her at risk acting like that.”

“Bullshit!” Tony shouted, “You were suffocating her you arrogant prick!” 

“Order in court!” The Judge shouted banging her gravel. Bucky and Rhodey tugged Tony down and rubbed his back, speaking to him in hushed tones to calm him. 

“Proceed Captain.” The Judge said. 

Clearing him through Steve went on, “Tony ran from the kitchen, he was hysterical and I was worried about what he would do. I could have gotten himself or Morgan hurt, so I ran after him, when I reached him I tried to get him to stop but he fell to the ground and I went down too. The next thing I knew Bucky had arrived and he must have thought I was hurting Tony or Morgan because he went into an Alpha rage, beating me so badly that my jaw had to be wired shut and I was paralyzed from the waist down for weeks from fractured vertebrae.”

“Very serious injuries.” The defence said, “Ones you were lucky to survive, as they included a ruptured spleen, punctured lung, and ruptured kidney.”

“I hold no ill-will against Bucky.” Steve stressed, “I want to make things right with him. I know he was only doing what he thought right and I don’t blame him for it.” 

“You must care for him very much.”

“I do.” Steve said, “He is my Brother in all but blood, I would walk into hell for him, without hesitation.”

“No further questions your honour.” 

“Prosecution, your witness.” 

The prosecution rose and approached the stand. “Captain Rogers, you claim you just wanted to speak to Mr Barnes. But is it not true that you had a restraining order against you that prohibited you from doing exactly that?”

“Well yes but…”

“And being on the Stark-Barnes property was in breach of said restraining order?”

“Yes but…”

And were you not squatting on the land weeks prior just waiting for an opportunity to attack Mr Stark?”

“I didn’t attack him!”

“Answer the question Captain.” The Judge said. 

“Alright, yes, I was on their land but….”

“And your attack on Mr Stark was another in a long history of violent assaults on his person.”

“Objection your honour, we are discussing one incident, not past incidents.” The defence said. 

“Over-ruled.” The judge said, “There is the restraining order to consider.” 

When the defence sat down his face was grim and Steve felt a stirring of nervousness in his stomach. 

“I….I may have lost my temper with Tony in the past. He is very aggravating and….I don’t trust him with Bucky.”

“You don’t trust him.” The prosecution said, “You don’t trust Tony Stark and his affections for James Barnes and you think this gives you the authority to attack Tony Stark and cause him serious injuries.”

Steve grit his teeth, “I never meant to hurt him.” 

“And yet Captain, you did.” The Prosecution said, “You hurt him and his Daughter. The Daughter of your friend, whom you claim is a Brother to you.” The Prosecution shook his head and smiled without humour, “If this is how you treat those you consider family then I would hate to see how you treat enemies.”

“Objection….”

“No further questions your honour.” The prosecution said cutting the defence off.

“You may step down Captain.” The judge said, “We will have closing statements and then the jury will retire to deliberate on the verdict.”


	39. Chapter 39

“How long can it take to reach a verdict?” James asked. He, Tony, Rhodey, and Natasha were sat in one of the waiting rooms in the court. Rhodey had been out and gotten them some drinks and food to have while they waited for the jury to decide on the verdict.

“As long as it takes.” Natasha said. “I’ve heard of instances where the Jury had taken days to decide.” At James’ morose look she smiled, “Those were major cases though, multiple murders and such.” 

“I just want this to be over with.” Tony said leaning back in his chair, “I want to go home with Morgan and forget about all of this.”

“Amen to that.” James agreed. The trial had taken its toll on them, bringing up memories they would rather not dwell on. Steve’s testimony hadn’t helped matters, with his accusing Tony of hysteria of putting Morgan in danger when he’d torn her from Steve’s arms. Tony still wasn’t entirely convinced that he wasn’t in some way responsible for the bruising on Morgan’s ribs, even though medical evidence had said otherwise, he couldn’t quite accept it and still believed that his jostling of her might have aggravated the injuries. Worries about this had him on edge as they waited for the verdict and would likely keep bothering him in the coming days.

It didn’t help that he hadn’t slept the night before and neither had James really, they had both been tossing and turning, unable to settle down into sleep with their minds going over the trial. In the end they had given up and risen early, going to have warm drinks and watch some rubbish on TV. 

Morgan had been restless too, but that they had pretty much expected her to be since she was going to be in a bedroom that wasn’t hers and she was now old enough to notice the difference. 

Consequently she was rather cranky that morning instead of being her usual cheerful self, which probably meant that Pepper would be facing a tantrum or two while she took care of the little mite. 

“You do realize your daughter is scarily smart already don’t you?” Rhodey said, “She is far more aware than a kid her age should be. She’s either going to grow up to be a freaky-ass genius like you or she’ll be a psychopath!”

“There is nothing wrong in being psychopathic.” Natasha sniffed and sipped her coffee.

“Yeah, and Hannibal Lecter said there was nothing wrong with eating people.” Rhodey shot back. 

“Rude people.” Tony corrected him, “And Morgan will be a genius, she’ll creating things in the lab in no time.”

“No explosives.” James said. 

“Not until she’s twelve Honey.” Tony assured him. 

“Seriously, aren’t you worried he’s going to make your kid a geek?” Rhodey asked James.

“I figured it was already a lost cause.” James sighed, “All I can do is try to minimalize the damage the two of them cause when they start blowing things up.”

“I do not blow up everything.” Tony said in protest, he tried to look offended but a grin was tugging at his lips. 

“I recall a time when you blew up the microwave in the tower, because after eighty-six hours of no sleep, you thought it was a good idea to have a self-aware microwave with battle laser features.” Natasha said, her eyebrows arched and lips just lightly curving in amusement. 

“One time, one time I did that, and it would have worked brilliantly if Bruce had decided to try and heat up left-over Chinese food in there before it was finished.” 

“And instead we had an exploded microwave, laser burns on the kitchen walls, and a pissed off Hulk to deal with.” Natasha said looking to James, “You are right to be cautious.”

“There was also the time in college when he decided to combine the TV with a hot plate so that Popcorn could be cooked while you were watching a movie without having to switch on another appliance.”

“I hate everyone!” Tony declared.

“Thankfully the fire was small and were able to redecorate before the college administration noticed.” Rhodey said to James who was snorting with laughter, this only intensified when he looked at his husband’s seething expression. 

“You are all assholes, and I am going to take my glorious company elsewhere so I can be properly adored.” Tony said, getting to his feet and stalking over to the bin to throw away the trash, he paused to speak with the security guard before going to sit in one of the chairs by the window and took out his phone scowling at the poor signal inside the courthouse. 

“Are the Paps still out there?” Natasha asked, finishing the last of the her coffee and with perfect aim, tossed the cup into the trash can. 

“Show off.” Rhodey snarked at her. 

“Yeah, the vultures are still circling.” Tony said glancing at her as she joined him at the window. 

“What I wouldn’t give for P90 or an AK47 right now.” Natasha murmured as she eyed the paparazzi. 

“Tell me about it.” Tony agreed. 

“I won’t let him near Morgan again.” Natasha said, her voice remaining the same monotone as before.

“What?” Tony looked up from his phone with a frown. 

“I have failed you in the past, not been the friend I could and should have been. I will not make that mistake again and I will not allow Steve near you or Morgan again.” Natasha said, not taking her eyes off the glass of the window. To the casual observer they would think she was just looking at the view, but it was very unlikely that she was even seeing the glass as her concentration was on something else entirely. 

“Okay.” Tony said, “That’s…”

“If he is found innocent because the Jury is made up of inbreds and brain defective imbeciles than Steve will not leave this courthouse alive.” 

Tony sucked in a deep breath and made himself stay relaxed, he glanced back down at his phone, letting his gaze shift up so he was looking through his lashes and could observe the security guard. The man was still at the door not doing anything, clearly not having over-heard Natasha, but then the Black Widow was too good to make such a rooky mistake. 

“Tash, you don’t…”

“I will do what is necessary.” Natasha said, very tone determined. She looked at Tony and he could see the resolve on her face. There would be no talking her out of this, she was set on this and would not be dissuaded no matter what anyone said or did. Short of breaking both her legs there would be no stopping her, and Tony wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t find a way to do it anyway. 

“I’m not sure what to say about that.” Tony said keeping his voice low. 

“Nothing.” Natasha said looking back to the window, “Say nothing. I do not need permission or gratitude.” 

That was good because Tony wasn’t sure he could have given either. He didn’t want to know what Natasha had planned, how she had managed to smuggle a weapon into the court, or if indeed she had a weapon and wouldn’t just use her bare hands. Both were terrifying to be honest and Tony was relieved he didn’t have a Black Widow gunning for him. 

Several more hours went by until finally the Jury came back with a verdict and they were summoned back into court.

*****

The Judge called the court into session and asked the spokesperson of the Jury to deliver the verdict on the charges against Steve. 

Steve sat in the dock his hands clasped in his lap as he waited with baited breath. 

“On the charge of Breaking and Entering the home of Tony Stark and Sergeant James Barnes we find the defendant guilty.” The Spokesperson said, “On the charge of assault and battery of Tony Stark we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of Attempted Kidnapping of Morgan Stark, we find the defendant not guilty. On the charge of child endangerment, we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of assault and battery of Morgan Stark, we find the defendant guilty, on the charge of breaking his restraining order we find the defendant guilty.”

Steve’s heart skipped a beat. Guilty. He had been found guilty of all but kidnapping. 

“Stand up.” Steve’s lawyer said as Steve’s head buzzed and his heart pounded. 

“Steven Grant Rogers.” The judge said, “You have been found guilty by a jury of your peers, on two charges of assault, one charge of breaking and entering, one charge breaching your restraining order, and one charge of child endangerment.” 

Was this real, was this really happening? Steve could hardly believe it, kept trying to pinch himself to wake himself up from a horrible nightmare. 

“It is the judgement of this court that you be sentenced to ten years imprisonment, four of which must be served before consideration for parole.” The judge banged her gravel, “Take him down.”

Steve opened his mouth to speak but he couldn’t get any words past the lump in his throat. Guilty, he’d been found guilty. How could this be happening, how could the jury think that he was guilty? 

He felt almost numb as he was taken from the court and led down to the holding cell where he was placed to wait until the prison van was ready to take him back to the Supermax.

Oh God, the Supermax. Ten years in the Supermax. 

He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t do ten years in that hellhole. No, wait, four years, the judge had said he could be granted parole in four years. That was… that was so long, so far away, but much better than ten years. 

Four years, what was that forty-eight months. One thousand-Four-Hundred-and-sixty-one days. If he included a February 29th. 

What would he do for four long years? 

As he was loaded into the van Steve closed his eyes and let the tears that were brimming burn behind the lids. Right now he felt completely and utterly defeated and had no idea how he would ever recover from this. 

*****

Rhodey and Natasha hurried Tony and James through the crowd of Paps and into the car heading back to the tower to celebrate. Rhodey called Pepper to let her know to get the champagne on ice and the cake delivered from the bakery. 

“You had a cake ordered?” Tony asked 

“Sort of. The bakery is one Stark Industries always uses for Birthdays and such and as you have so many employees they end up send at least one cake a week, so they were happy to do us a favour and whip up a cake on a rush order, so long as we didn’t quibble able to the flavour.”

“I’m hoping for chocolate.” Natasha said. 

“Chocolate is everyone’s favourite.” Tony agreed, “Although coffee walnut, lemon drizzle, mocha, carrot, and red velvet are pretty high on my list.”

“Salted caramel.” Rhodey said, “Or pistachio and vanilla.” 

“I like a good old-fashioned strawberry and vanilla.” James said, shrugging his shoulders, “Simple and classic, and back when cake was luxury one with both icing and jam was seen as decadent as any of those fancy ones.”

“Man has a point.” Rhodey agreed, “You can’t beat the classics.” 

Pepper had the champagne on ice and was dancing with Morgan in her arms when they arrived at the Penthouse. 

“Ma, Ma, Ma!” Morgan cried holding out her arms for Tony and giggled happily as he took her into them. 

“Hello Morgoona, have you been a good girl today?” He asked her blowing a raspberry on her cheek. 

Morgan squealed and kicked her legs laughing delightedly as James caught her feet, “Da!” She babbled. 

“Have you been a good girl Princess?” He asked her, “If not you can’t have any cake.”

“She’s been good for the most part.” Pepper said diplomatically, “She was a bit cranky when you first left this morning and had trouble settling for a nap, but since then she’s been her usual self.”

“Hmm, is that good enough?” James asked pretending to eat Morgan’s onesie covered feet making her squeal at him. “Poo, where have you had these, they stink!” He declared exaggeratedly waving a hand in front of his nose.

“She’s got her Daddy’s smelly feet, don’t you precious?” Tony said to Morgan. “How’s about we have a bath while we wait for the cake to arrive, yeah?”

“Ma!” Morgan declared which Tony took to mean yes. Naturally as he went to the bathroom with Morgan, James followed, going to get a change of clothes for Morgan and a change for themselves since they would be soaked by the time Morgan was done splashing everywhere. 

“So how long did he get?” Pepper asked Rhodey and Natasha. 

“Ten years, and he has to serve four before parole.” Rhodey said, “Not as long as he’d have gotten if they’d have found him guilty of kidnapping, but it’s better than him walking away scot free.”

“Well, thank God it’s over.” Pepper said with a relieved sigh, “Tony and James can stop stressing and just go back to enjoying being parents.”

“And you can go back to being CEO and not babysitter.” Rhodey said a smirk on his face, “Harder than it looks?” he asked seeing the tiredness in Pepper’s eyes.

“That child does not lack for energy.” Pepper said, “And she’s worse than a cat for curiosity!”

“God help Tony and James when she starts walking.” Rhodey chuckled, “I don’t think they’ll know what hit them!”


End file.
